Four words the trade uses precisely
An edition is every copy printed from one setting of type. A printing, or impression, is one run through the press from that setting. An issue is a group of copies within an edition that a publisher deliberately altered, for instance by changing the title page. A state is a variation that happened during printing without intent, such as a corrected typo part way through the run.
| Term | What changed | Who decided | Worked example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Edition | The type was reset | The publisher | A 1954 reset of a 1937 book is a second edition, however it is described |
| Printing | Nothing. The press ran again | The publisher | Ten thousand more copies from the same plates |
| Issue | The publisher altered something deliberately after publication | The publisher | A cancel title page with a new imprint, bound into remaining sheets |
| State | Something changed mid-run without intent | The printer, by accident | A typo spotted and corrected while the press was running |
When a collector says “first edition” they mean the first printing of the first edition, in its earliest issue and state. When a publisher prints “First edition” on the copyright page of the ninth printing, they are using the word in its literal sense, and the copy is worth the same as any other reprint.
Why the first printing is the one
Scarcity and proximity. The first printing is the smallest run and the one that existed when the book was new and unproven.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone had a first hardback printing of 500 copies in 1997, most of which went to libraries. Later printings of the same “first edition” ran to hundreds of thousands. One sells for tens of thousands of pounds, the other for the price of a paperback, and the Harry Potter guide gives sale figures for the first, third and fourth impressions.
The publisher did not know the book would matter. That is the whole of it. By the second printing somebody did, and copies were kept.
How to tell the printing
Publishers signal the printing in different ways, and the conventions changed over time. The publisher-by-publisher guide lists the houses that come up most, decade by decade.
| Signal | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Number line | A row such as 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1. The lowest number present is the printing. A 1 means first |
| Statement | “First published 1953” with no later dates listed beneath it. Any “Reprinted 1954” means a reprint |
| Publisher’s code | Some houses used letters or their own codes. Reference guides list them |
| Date match | The date on the title page matches the copyright date, on older books |
| Points of issue | Known errors or features present only in the first printing |
Number lines came into general use in the second half of the twentieth century. Before that, a statement of printing history or its absence is what you have, and the reference guides for each author record the points.
Points of issue
A point is a detail the first printing has and later ones do not. Points outrank statements, because a publisher can print anything on a copyright page but cannot un-print a mistake that has already been bound. Points are established in published bibliographies, and the British Library catalogue records the edition deposited at publication.
| Book | First-printing point |
|---|---|
| A Christmas Carol, 1843 | “Stave I” rather than “Stave One”, a title page in red and blue, green endpapers |
| The Hobbit, 1937 | “Dodgeson” misspelt on the rear jacket flap |
| Brighton Rock, 1938 | The American edition was published first, which makes the English one a second printing of the text |
| Casino Royale, 1953 | Fleming’s own jacket design, carrying no review quotations |
| Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, 1997 | “1 wand” listed twice on page 53, and “Philospher’s Stone” missing an o on the lower cover |
Points are what separate a £200 copy from a £20,000 one, and every seriously collected author has a published list of them.
The traps
Six things look like first printings and are not, or turn a first printing into something worth far less.
| What it is | How it reads in a catalogue | What it costs |
|---|---|---|
| Book club edition | “BCE” or “Book club” | Nearly all of it. No collector value |
| Ex-library copy | “Ex-lib”, “library markings” | 70 to 90 percent |
| Married copy | “Jacket from another copy”, “jacket supplied” | Priced as the lesser part of the two |
| Facsimile jacket | “Facsimile dust jacket” | Priced as a copy without a jacket |
| Price-clipped jacket | “Price-clipped”, “clipped” | 25 to 35 percent of the jacket’s contribution |
| Remainder mark | “Remainder mark to lower edge” | 20 to 40 percent on a modern book |
A married copy is a first-printing book wearing a later jacket, or the reverse. Both halves have to be first printings to make a first-printing copy, and the price follows the weaker half. Jackets carry their own printing evidence: the price, the design, and the books advertised on the back.
A remainder mark is a stripe or a stamp on the bottom edge of the page block, applied when a publisher cleared unsold stock. It proves the book did not sell, and it is permanent.
Later printings that are worth something
Three exceptions to the rule that only the first printing counts.
A signed later printing of a book whose first printing is unobtainable sells for the signature. A second printing of a book with a first printing of a few hundred copies has its own small market. And for books published before about 1850, where the concept of a printing is blurred by hand-press practice, the first edition as a whole is what is collected.
What this means for a shelf of inherited books
Work through the shelf with the copyright pages open. Set aside anything with a number line ending in 1, a “first published” statement with no reprints, or a date match on an older book.
Then check the jacket. Then check for a book club mark on the rear board. Then check the what makes a book valuable guide for the other half of the answer: condition, jacket and demand, with a worked table showing what each grade is worth on one book. The selling guide covers what happens to the shelf after that, pile by pile.
