First Editions, how do you know?

[Skribble]

How do you know if a book is a first edition?

I have some that say "first published 1998" and have no other dates. Does this mean it is a first edition? Do they always have another date if it is not a first but a later reprint?

I have some first editions and they actually say first edition inside.

Oh well, I don't think they are then, one says first impression and a year then copyright dates which are the same year.

Something to do with the row of numbers.

You normally see 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, and i think that means its the sixth edition, if it went right down to 1 then its the first edition.

My mind is a bit hazy and i don't have a book nearby to look at so i could be wrong.

Ok I will check for that .

Nope just ISBN numbers. But they all say first published with no other more recent dates, no mention of reprint or revised.

But there will still have been a number of editions printed in that year.

Not sure whether the fact you have no numbers could mean its first edition or not.

Ok i have a book in front of me.

It tells me first edition 1987, second edition 1994, and third edition written in bold 1999.

Then it counts from 10 - 1. So i think that means it is the first print of the third edition brought out in 1999.

Hattie is right. I'm not sure that all publishers do the 10 9 8 thing, though - the smaller houses may not. I'll check later.

I do have a couple that have

2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1
with no other dates apart from a first published year.

I don't want to put them on ebay and claim they are first editions if they are not.

I have checked my harry potter and they have

21 23 25 27 29 26 24 22

and 11 13 15 17 19 18 16 14 12

so no goldmine there then .

So the numbers taken out must be the edition they are,

So your first one is first edition,

second one is 22nd edition,

third one is 12th edition.

Technically, those numbers indicate which printing a book is from. Something can be a first edition, 22nd printing, iyswim.

But when people casually say "first edition", they mean first printing, of the first edition.

Are you talking about recent editions? Older books do not have this kind of marking (10 9 8...); sometimes they don't have a date at all.

Yes most of the books I am checking are more recent. So far I have
Andy McNab-BravoTwoZero
A gift basket book
A disney/ ladybird- Sleeping Beauty- The Secret Spell
Set of Two books- Pooh and Tigger.

They are all fairly recent and probably not worth anything. Perhaps i will squirrel them away for my retirment .

Thanks for your help.

usually if there is only one date then its the first (or only) edition. later editions will have first edition date in as well, if that makes sense. other dates will be printing -"edition" actually implies taht is has been edited so a second edition has changes - more likely in the case of non-fiction

First editions which are valuable are books where there was a limited first run - ie they did not expect the book to sell well or it was an unknown author. If the book then went on to be a success and had lots of subsequent reprints then that first edition becomes rare. So a first edition of Philosopher's Stone is worth a lot more than Half Blood Prince (where a lot more were printed initially).

Thanks again, I will stop raiding my DH's book case and continue to flogg all the cake decorating books I can find. As you are all so helpful I don't suppose you where I put the charger for my digi camera ?

in a drawer

which one?