Random House

• Random House marks the first printing with the words "First Edition" on the copyright page; the firm stated this policy in 1947.
• On later books the number row on a first printing often starts at 2 rather than 1, with "First Edition" standing in for the missing 1 (for example "First Edition / 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9"); a row starting at 2 without the statement is a second printing.
• Book club editions are a common trap: their jackets usually carry no price on the front flap, so a priced jacket is one of the first things to check.

Random House marks a first printing with the words "First Edition" on the copyright page and drops them from later printings; for decades its number line on a first printing began or ended at 2, not 1, so the statement, not the line, decides it.

By period

• In its first years Random House issued mainly limited editions, and for those the colophon gives the edition details; the firm said so in 1928, and in 1947 it still treated limited editions as the exception to the "First Edition" rule.
• Its trade first printings carry "First Edition" on the copyright page, a policy the firm confirmed in a 1947 statement.
• Later printings are not marked as such. They simply lack the statement, so its absence is the main sign of a reprint.

Number lines

• From the 1970s the number line on a first printing has no 1 and starts or ends at 2, with "First Edition" standing in for the missing 1 (for example "First Edition / 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9"). The same line without the statement is a second printing.
• Random House later began to include the 1 on first printings, after complaints from collectors, while still removing the statement from reprints.

• Villard followed the same method.

• The Modern Library is a reprint series, so its volumes are not first editions of the text; the first printing of a title in the series usually says "First Modern Library Edition" on the copyright page.

Traps

• Reading the line by itself. The general "lowest number is the printing" rule will misread every Random House first printing of the period as a second. Always look for the statement.
• Book club copies. Book-of-the-Month Club copies are usually the same size and quality as the trade edition, so size is no guide. Look instead for a jacket with no price on the front flap and a small blind stamp (a dot, circle or square) low on the rear board. BOMC printed prices on some jackets in the 1970s, but those copies still carry the stamp.
• Some club printings keep the "First Edition" wording, so a club copy can look like a first on the copyright page.

Examples

• A Random House copyright page of the 1980s reading "First Edition" above "2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9" is a first printing; the same page with the words gone and the line unchanged is the second printing.
• The first printing of Black House (2001) by Stephen King and Peter Straub has a first edition statement (dealers quote it as "First Trade Edition") above the line 2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3.