posted on April 4, 2001 12:48:27 PM
I have a couple of books that have "First Printing" indicated on the first page. Are these "first editions?" What is the difference, if any? Thanks for any help.
posted on April 4, 2001 01:09:13 PM
Many books state "first edition", but they are only FIRSTS if they are a "first printing".
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Many modern publishers use a number or letter system to designate first editions. Publishers using this system have numbers or letters similar to 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 or A B C D E where the 1 or the A indicates a first edition. If the 1 is missing as in 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 then that book is probably a second printing as designated by the remaining 2. Sometimes you'll find that numbers appear appear differently or in reverse as in 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1.
Regardless of the way the numbers look, you want to spot the 1 or the A. There are exceptions so check the list of publishers. For example, Random House will use the words First Edition in place of the number 1. Thus a Random House book stating "First Edition" starting at the number 2 is first edition, first state book.
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This is a good link for first edition identification:
