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First Editions, First Printings, and First Issues

have written about first editions before, but since it can be an Identification of First Editions (McBride/Publisher, seventh edition
ongoing topic of confusion, it might be time to plow this field again revised). Note that I use the latest editions available of these books
Ias it can be endlessly tricky, so look out for literary rocks and because the later editions have more information than the older
stumps as this email I just got will demonstrate. editions. Ironically, in the case of reference books that you use, the later
editions are better than the first editions.
Dear Jim – A First Edition actually means the First Printing. A
I’ve struggled a bit with nomenclature in trying to Printing is a lot or group of books printed at
start a tally of my Thoreau ephemera and Walden one time before the type is removed from the
collection, and I’m sure there are further complications press. Other printings may be made at later dates
to consider. Bibliographers are resistant to deign new – the first printing can be collectible. Not all
printings [as] “editions,” while publishers such as First Printings are valuable.
Ticknor and Fields, John Osgood, and Houghton A First Printing may have Issue Points or
Mifflin seem all too happy to do so. States. These are changes that occur during a
Would it make sense to you to say that an printing – either an error was discovered and
Edition is a distinct organization of a particular corrected (the corrected part of the printing is the
text, involving specific editing and/or particular second issue) or perhaps a piece of type breaks
plates? Printings are then iterations from the same during the printing (broken type copies would
plates, reflecting the same editorial/publisher/design also be a second issue). If there were no errors or
of the interior text. A grey zone occurs if/when type breaks, or if errors were not corrected during
corrections or minor changes are made to plates that the printing, then there are no Issue Points.
are otherwise the same. Many First Printings Do Not Have Issue Points,
Variants finally reflect a spectrum of design but it is important to know those that do. The
flourishes as regards covers of Editions and 1885 First Printing First Issue of The Adventures of
Printings: the seemingly endless such of the 1899 Huckleberry Finn is worth about $2,000 more than
T.Y. Crowell and Henry Altemus’ Walden is a a First Printing later issue of the book.
good example. The text block is the same for these, and they thus go back to And Huck Finn is one of the most confusing first
a specific Edition of 1899, and the Printing is also 1899. But then there editions ever with seven different issue points, most of them being of
seem to have been at least twenty-odd (or more) cover designs for the same, the most minute quality. For example, point 3 has the typo “with the
rendering distinct Variants. was” on p. 57, line 11, corrected to “with the saw;” and so forth – all
Please give me your thoughts, and feel free to shoot down the speculation the earlier printings had the mistake, later ones had the correction. As I
in flames as well! I don’t mind friendly fire, wherever it leads ;) said, collectors love this stuff! Of course, not all editions have printings
and not all printings have issue points.
Cheers – H.
Clear as Mud?
P.S. Sorry, I meant to say more clearly of Printings that these are to be To add to the fun, not all publishers even know the difference
seen as issues from one and the same Edition plates. between an Edition and a Printing. You will recall that the first reprint
of Thoreau’s Maine Woods done in 1866, is clearly marked “Second
Edition” on the copyright page, but it is not a second edition, it is a
Dear H, second printing ,as it is from the original setting of type with no
What is an Edition and what is a Printing can be confusing. This is corrections, changes, deletions, or additions – which didn’t happen
something I wrote a few years ago that might clarify that: until the 1894 edition, I believe. The second edition of Thoreau’s
A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers was published in 1868,
First Edition? First Printing? and definitely a new edition because it has additions and corrections
An Edition of a book is all the printings of that book done from the not found in the 1849 first edition. It is not marked as such as to what
same setting of type. A Second Edition is done from a reset or using it is other than the date, 1868.
different type. For most famous writers, especially those from the 19th century,
Each Publisher Has Its Own Method of Labeling its First Editions you would need to use a bibliography for a particular author, not just
… and there are guidebooks to tell how different publishers marked a general first edition guide, as that can be a whole different can of
them. And even then, they were not always consistent. bibliographic worms!
I use Zempel’s First Editions: A Guide To Identification (Spoon River
Press, 2001, fourth edition) and McBride’s Pocket Guide to the Good luck – Jim

James Dawson has owned and operated the Unicorn Bookshop in Trappe, MD since 1975, when he decided that it would be more fun to buy and sell old books and maps than to get
a “real” job. For a born collector like Jim, having a shop just might be another excuse to buy more books. He has about 30,000 second hand and rare books on the shelves, and just
about all subjects are represented. He can be contacted at P.O. Box 154; Trappe, MD 21673; 410-476-3838; unicornbookshopMD@gmail.com; www.unicornbookshop.com

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