Recognising a First Edition: A Beginner's Guide

Are you new to book collecting and wondering what distinguishes a mere reprint from a true first edition? Some will say an early date on the title page, the absence of the words “second edition,” a printer's colophon or, for more recent books, a figure “1” somewhere on the verso of the title page.

In practice, things are rarely so simple.

A first edition cannot be identified by a single clue: it is established by comparing several characteristics of the book with a reliable bibliographic description.

The date, the publisher, the wrappers, the printer's colophon, the pagination, the paper or certain misprints may all matter. But their significance depends on the book being examined.

Here is the method we use to begin examining a copy.

What is a first edition?

In its usual bibliophilic sense, a first edition corresponds to the first edition of a work published under the author's authority or with his consent.

This definition, however, calls for some nuance.

A text may have been published previously, in whole or in part, in a newspaper or journal. This first appearance is then often referred to as a pre-original edition (édition préoriginale), while the term first edition is reserved for the first publication in book form.

Les Fleurs du Mal provides a fine example. Eighteen poems appeared under this title in the Revue des Deux Mondes as early as 1855; the first edition of the collection in book form did not appear until 1857, from Poulet-Malassis et de Broise.

We must also clarify what is meant by “first edition.”

For a foreign work, the first edition is normally the first edition of the work in its original language of publication. Its first French translation, meanwhile, constitutes the first edition in French (as with La Vraie Vie by Tolstoï).

The same work may then be retranslated several times. In such cases one may speak of the first edition of a given translation (as with Les Possédés, by Dostoïevski): this refers to the first publication of that particular translation, even if the text had already appeared in French in another translation.

Finally, the editio princeps designates, strictly speaking, the first printed edition of a text that predates the invention of printing and had until then been transmitted in manuscript form — for example, a text from Greek or Latin Antiquity. The term is sometimes used today as a simple synonym for “first edition,” but this usage is less precise.

In other words, before asking “is this a first edition?”, one sometimes needs to first clarify: first edition of what?

First edition and first printing: what is the difference?

A first edition may have gone through several successive printings. For the collector, it is therefore often important to determine whether a copy belongs to the first printing, that is, the first impression of that edition.

The study can become even more subtle when changes occur during the very production of the book.

Imagine that a misprint is discovered after part of the copies have already been printed. The printer corrects it and continues the work: some copies will retain the error, others will show the corrected text. Both, however, belong to the same printing. We then speak of two states of the same element of the book.

One must further distinguish the issue: this corresponds to a portion of an edition that the publisher deliberately chooses to put into circulation in a particular form. For example on a different paper, with a different title page, or in a distinct presentation.

Thus, first printing, first issue and first state are not strictly synonymous, even though these terms are sometimes used more loosely in the antiquarian book trade.

To identify a copy, the safest approach therefore remains to follow the terminology and criteria established by the reference bibliography of the work.

How to identify a first edition?

1. Start with the title page, but do not stop there

The title page provides the first elements of your investigation:

• the exact title;
• the author's name;
  
• the publisher or bookseller;
• the place of publication;
• the date.

These must be recorded exactly.

But a date matching that of the work's first publication is absolutely not enough to prove that a copy belongs to the first printing.

There are reprints bearing the same date, title pages retained from one printing to the next, and even books whose printed date does not exactly match the actual date of publication.

The antiquarian book (and book collecting) loves exceptions.

2. Examine the original wrappers when they are preserved

For nineteenth- and twentieth-century first editions, the paperback wrappers can provide decisive information: date, price, series, edition statement or publisher's advertising.

This is one of the reasons why bibliographic descriptions frequently specify that a bound copy has its wrappers and spine preserved - beyond even the interest of having a so-called complete copy.

A binding, however superb, may indeed have caused the disappearance of certain elements that would allow two printings to be distinguished.

The binding must therefore be studied separately from the edition: it tells us about the history of the copy, not necessarily about that of the printing.

3. Read the printer's colophon

Usually placed at the end of the volume, the printer's colophon can indicate the date on which printing was completed, the name of the printer and sometimes information relating to the print run.

It is a valuable bibliographic clue.

But contrary to a widespread belief, the presence of an early printer's colophon is not enough to prove a first printing.

Two different editions or printings may retain very similar information, or even the same printer's colophon. It must therefore be compared with the other characteristics of the work.

The printer's colophon must not be read in isolation: it must be checked against the title page, the wrappers, the make-up of the book, typographical errors and the bibliography.

4. Be wary of “second edition” statements

This is a particularly French pitfall.

In the nineteenth and especially the twentieth century, some publishers used fictitious edition statements: “second edition,” “fourth edition,” “tenth thousand”…

The purpose was commercial. The aim was to give readers the impression that a book was already enjoying considerable success.

A copy bearing the words “third edition” may therefore, in certain well-documented cases, materially belong to the first edition.

Conversely, the absence of any edition statement proves nothing on its own.

It is only after studying the precise bibliographic history of the title that “no statement,” “second edition” or “tenth thousand” take on real meaning.

A famous example: Du côté de chez Swann

The first edition of Du côté de chez Swann by Marcel Proust shows perfectly why no simple rule works.

The book was published by Bernard Grasset at the end of 1913. Some copies of the first printing notably have a printer's colophon dated 8 November 1913, the absence of a table of contents, and various typographical peculiarities.

Among the earliest copies is the famous “faute à Grasset” (the “Grasset misprint”): a typographical anomaly in the publisher's name on the title page, quickly corrected in the course of printing.

More surprising still: the title page may bear the date 1914, while the wrappers bear 1913.

A reader looking solely for “the right date” would therefore risk rejecting precisely the copy he is looking for.

This is the whole difference between looking at a book and describing it bibliographically.

5. Check the collation of the book

As one proceeds with the examination of a work, one must pay attention to its physical make-up.

One compares in particular:

• the number of pages and leaves;
• the preliminary leaves;
• the presence of a half-title;
• the tables of contents;
• the errata;
• the publisher's catalogues;
• the plates and illustrations;
• the blank leaves;
• and, for early books, the make-up of the gatherings and their signatures.

A difference of a few leaves may indicate an incomplete copy. But it may also reveal a different printing, a different issue, or a different state.

In book collecting, the presence of a seemingly insignificant leaf can sometimes completely change the identification of a copy.

6. Examine the print run statement and the paper

From the end of the nineteenth century, and especially in the twentieth century, many French editions include a print run statement.

This may specify that, for example, a few copies were printed on japon, a set number on Holland or vellum paper, with the remainder on ordinary paper.

These copies on fine papers are what are generally called large-paper copies. The earliest and most valuable often constitute the limited deluxe edition.

They can be much rarer and more sought after than ordinary copies of the same first edition.

But here again, caution is needed: large-paper copy and first printing are not synonymous. The physical chronology of an edition can be more complex and must be verified title by title.

7. Look for the known “points” of the edition

For certain famous works, bibliographers have identified details that make it possible to distinguish precisely between different printings or different states.

These may include:

• a corrected misprint;
• a word or line altered;
• the position of a printer's colophon;
• a different set of wrappers;
• a catalogue added or removed;
• an errata leaf;
• a replaced illustration;
• a printed price;
• or a peculiarity of the publisher's binding.

These details are only of value when they are documented.

A misprint is not interesting because it is a misprint: it becomes so when a bibliography makes it possible to establish at what point in the printing it appears or disappears.

8. What, then, is the best proof of a first edition?

A bibliographic reference.

For important works, there are bibliographies devoted to a particular author, period, publisher or field.

The bookseller can also compare his copy against the catalogues of major libraries, digitised copies, old sale catalogues or descriptions established by fellow booksellers.

Depending on the books being studied, one will thus encounter references such as Vicaire, Carteret, Talvart et Place, Clouzot, or bibliographies devoted to a particular author. For fifteenth- and sixteenth-century printings, bibliographic databases such as the USTC or the specialised catalogues of the Bibliothèque nationale de France become indispensable.

No single source is universal.

The real work consists in knowing which bibliography is authoritative for the book at hand, and then comparing its description with the copy.

The most common mistakes when starting out

Some habits of thought are particularly misleading.

“The book bears the date of the first edition, so it is a first edition.”
No. Several printings can bear the same date.

“It does not say second edition, so it is the first.”
Not that either. The absence of any statement is a genuine criterion only when a bibliography tells us that it characterises a particular printing.

“It says fourth edition, so it is not a first edition.”
Not necessarily: fictitious edition statements do exist.

“It has an old binding, so the book is old.”
The binding and the edition are two different things. An eighteenth-century edition may have been bound in the nineteenth or twentieth century; conversely, a binding contemporary with the edition can be an important element of the copy's interest.

“It is a first edition, so it has value.”
Again, no. Value depends on rarity, the importance of the text, condition, binding, provenance, paper, any autograph inscription and many other factors.

Some first editions exist in tens of thousands of copies. Some later editions are almost impossible to find.

The right method: never look for a single clue

To seriously identify a book, remember this method:

1. Precisely identify the work.
Author, title, publisher, place and date.

2. Physically examine the copy.
Title page, wrappers, printer's colophon, pagination, illustrations, appendices.

3. Note its particularities.
Edition statement, paper, misprints, errata, catalogue, print run statement.

4. Find the appropriate bibliography.

5. Compare, and only then draw conclusions.

This is in fact one of the great pleasures of book collecting. A book is never merely the text it contains: it is also an object produced at a precise moment, by a printer and a publisher, then bound, sold, read and passed down.

Learning to recognise a first edition is, step by step, learning to read this second history — that of the book itself.