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It's rare, but we occasionally choose questions that don't require a search -- we just head straight to a site that we're sure will either answer the question or lead us in the right direction. This was one of those instances. We went to Alibris, a great resource for finding rare and out-of-print books, and clicked the "Learn" tab. We had a choice between Articles, Web Resources, and a Glossary of Book Terms. Rather than wading through a bunch of web links or a glossary of terms, we tried our luck with the articles. We were very pleased to scroll down and see an article titled, "Identifying First Editions for Beginners."
The article lays out three steps to determine whether or not a book is a first edition. However, it also offers the caveat that there are many exceptions. - Look for a price on the dust jacket. If there is no price, chances are you are holding a book club edition. These are not considered collectible.
- If the dust jacket does show a price, go to the copyright page and look for the words "first edition" or "first printing." Some publishers may use a number line, a string of numbers, usually from 1 to 10, often occupying the last line of text on the copyright page. If the 1 is missing, it is not a true first edition. (One major exception: Random House and its subsidiaries don't use the number 1, but will always state "first edition.")
- Buy an adequate reference guide.
With a handy reference guide at hand, you'll be less likely to make a mistake in the purchase of a first-edition book.
To make sure we weren't missing anything, we headed to The International Book Collectors Association and clicked on the "First Edition Identification" link. The folks at IBCA also recommend checking the copyright page for the words "First Edition," but state that if a publisher uses both the words and a number system, the number system always takes precedence. They also suggest comparing the dates on the title page with those found on the copyright page. Book collectors seem to agree on one aspect of collecting first editions: Because of the numerous exceptions to the
rules in book publishing, it's essential to get a reference guide.
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