How to Identify a First Edition

Collectors use "first edition" loosely, but the copy that carries the value is almost always the first printing of the first edition. Booksellers call it the first impression. A later printing from the same edition looks nearly identical, so the checks below are about telling them apart.

Edition and impression are different things

An edition is every copy printed from one setting of the type. An impression (or printing) is one run on the press. A popular book can go through dozens of impressions of the same edition, and each one may say "first edition" somewhere because the edition never changed. What you want is the first impression of the first edition, often written as "first edition, first impression" or "true first".

A first thus is the first appearance of a book in a new form: a new publisher, a new illustrated edition, a revised text. It can be collectable in its own right, but it is not the first edition of the work.

Step 1: the copyright page

Turn to the back of the title page (the verso). This is where most of the evidence is.

• A first published statement. Many UK publishers print "First published in Great Britain in 1997" or "First published 1953". That alone is not proof: later impressions often keep the same line.
• No later impressions listed. Reprints usually add lines such as "Second impression 1954" or "Reprinted 1955, 1956". If you see any, the copy is not a first impression.
• A number line. From the 1970s onwards many publishers use a row of numbers, and the lowest number usually gives the printing. A line ending in 1 suggests a first printing. See number lines explained.
• The date matches the title page. If the title page and copyright page disagree, find out why before you assume anything.

Step 2: points of issue

Many important books have points of issue: small, documented differences between the first printing and later ones. A misprint, a missing word, a different publisher's address, a binding colour. On MyVolumes we list a point only where two independent sources agree, and each edition page shows the points for every printing we know of. Read points of issue explained for how to use them.

Step 3: the dust jacket

For books published with a jacket, the jacket can make up most of the value, and it has its own points: the price on the front flap, the reviews on the back panel, the publisher's list on the rear flap. A first impression in a later printing's jacket is a "married" copy and is worth less. See dust jackets explained.

Step 4: rule out the usual traps

• Book club editions look like firsts and often copy the first edition's copyright page. Look for no price on the jacket, a smaller size and cheaper paper. See book club editions.
• Facsimile jackets are modern reproductions put on genuine books.
• US and UK firsts are different books for collectors. A UK collector usually wants the UK first, and the true first may be either, depending on which appeared first.
• Proofs come before the first edition and are collected separately.

When you are still not sure

Compare your copy with the edition page on MyVolumes, point by point, and grade it honestly using our condition guide. If a book has no recorded points, a specialist bookseller or an auction house specialist can usually confirm it.