Colonel Chabert first edition cover, New Directions 1997

First edition Hardback The Human Comedy

Colonel Chabert (1997)

Honoré de Balzac · New Directions, New York

Publisher New Directions Year 1997 ISBN 9780811213592

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Market value

What decides the price

It is the first edition, which is the one collectors want.
The original dust jacket carries much of the price for a book of this age; its condition matters as much as the book's.
Condition is graded separately for book and jacket, from Fine down to Poor.

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Sales record

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We value a printing from verified sales of that exact printing, and none of the first impression has come to auction in our records so far. The chart and the value by condition appear here as soon as one does.

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In short

Quick answer

Who published the Colonel Chabert first edition?: New Directions, New York, in 1997, in hardback.

Publisher's practice

How New Directions marked its first editions

In its early years New Directions was not consistent about stating a first edition or marking later printings, so the copyright page alone may not settle a copy.
Binding variants can help separate printings, since first-edition sheets were sometimes bound up later; check an author bibliography for early titles.
Book club copies (a general tell for US trade houses; no mark specific to this house was found): a jacket flap with no printed price is the commonest sign, though a printed price does not on its own rule out a club copy. Also look for a small blind stamp, such as a dot or square, pressed into the rear board, and for a book that is smaller and more cheaply made than the trade edition.

Read the full guide to New Directions first editions, decade by decade, and check your copy's copyright page against it. Our number line decoder reads the printing from the row of numbers.

Printing by printing

Printings and states

First impression

1997

At a glance

Not yet researched

We have not yet confirmed the issue points that tell this first impression from later ones. Until we do, compare your copy's title page and copyright page with the publisher, place and year above: any later printing or edition statement means it is not this one.

Know the points? Tell us. We publish them, with credit, once a second source agrees.

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Questions collectors ask

Frequently asked questions

Who published the Colonel Chabert first edition?

New Directions, New York, in 1997, in hardback.

Collecting guides

Know what you are looking at

All guides

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Dust Jackets Explained: Why the Jacket Drives a Book's Value

For most books published since the 1920s, the original dust jacket carries a large share of the value, often most …

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How to Identify a First Edition

To identify a first edition, check that your copy is the first printing of the first edition. Read the copyright …

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Book Condition Grading: Fine to Poor Explained

Book condition grading uses a six-step trade scale: Fine, Near Fine, Very Good, Good, Fair and Poor. Collectors grade the …

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