Book collectors have a high regard for priority; they search for first EDITIONS, first PRINTINGS, first ISSUES, first STATES, first BOOKS (of specific authors), first APPEARANCES, and earliest IMPRINTS! You could go against the grain and collect second editions or second printings, but if you ever decided to sell or otherwise dispose of your collection you would likely find that your collection would attract less interest than a similar collection of books in first editions.
Those who collect literature rather than non-fiction often place the greatest emphasis on priority. They search not only for first editions, but usually want first printings of the edition and the earliest issues or states when priority has been established.
Many collectors of non-fiction often will settle for a later edition or a later printing; most do prefer first editions, but the emphasis tends to be more on the content of the book rather than sequence in printing history. In fact, the "best" edition of some non-fiction classics is the revised or updated editions which sometimes is a third edition or even later and contains additional information of value to the collector.
The definitions of "first edition", "state", and "issue" are complex and the terms are interpreted in many ways — we will attempt to provide relatively simple definitions, to which there will be exceptions — our object is to provide you with a general concept of each term:
- Edition — the copies of a book or other printed material which originate from the same plates or setting of type. If 500 copies of a book are printed on Oct. 5 and 300 copies are printed from the same substantially unchanged plates on Dec. 10, all 800 copies are part of the same edition.
- Printing — the copies of a book or other printed material which originate from the same press run or from the same plates or setting of type at one time. In the example given for "Edition" above, the 500 copies would be the first printing and the 300 copies comprise the second printing. In the 19th century some publishers labeled later printings as if they were later editions, i.e. a second printing would be called a "second edition" on the copyright page.
- First Edition — All of the copies printed from the first setting of type; can include multiple printings if all are from the same setting of type. Every printed book has a first edition, many never have later editions. A later edition would have substantial changes in the printing plates or type such as the addition of a new preface or new chapter or major changes throughout the text and often is printed from a complete resetting of the type. When book collectors use the term first edition, they are usually referring to the first printing and if there are different states or issues, the earliest of those.
- Issue — a portion of an edition printed or published deliberately by the printer or publisher in a distinct form differing from the rest of the printing relative to paper, binding, format, etc. The distinction between "issue" and "state" is that the former relates to changes done on purpose by the publisher or printer and intentionally treated as a separate unit, i.e. a large paper issue or an issue in publisher's leather.
- State — a portion of a printing with changes such as minor alterations to the text either intentional or accidental; insertion of cancels, advertisements or other insertions; copies on different paper without intention of creating a separate issue; and changes other than folding or collating or binding. An example would be when a pressman discovers battered or broken type, stops the presses and resets that portion of the page by replacing the broken type and then resumes the printing, which would result in at least two states.
- Variants — usually refers to differences in bindings or endpapers ( paper located just inside the front and rear covers, one half of which is glued to the cover). One variant may have a title stamped on the front cover in black and another may be stamped in red.
- First Books — the first book appearance by an author (usually refers to a book entirely by the author, not merely a first appearance of a poem or short story in an anthology). Frequently an established, well-known author's first book is not widely known; i.e. James Fenimore Cooper's "Precaution".
- First Appearances — this term can refer to several different concepts:
- The first time an author appears in print, i.e. Henry D. Thoreau's first appearance in print was as an anonymous obituary in a Concord newspaper
- The first time a specifc writing of an author appears (in a magazine or newspaper or anthology), Emily Dickinson's poem "I'm nobody Who are you" appears first in "Life", March 1891
- The first time a specific subject is treated in book form, i.e. the first American book on the subject of dryfly fishing was written by Emlyn Gill and published in 1913.
Robert Frost's first book is entitled "A Boy's Will" and the first edition was published in London in 1913 and occurs with four different binding variants. The first American edition of "A Boy's Will" was published in New York in 1915 and occurs in two states (some refer to as issues) with the first state having an error in the last line of page 14 reading "Aind" instead of "And".
Try searching for this title in one of the major antiquarian book databases and read the descriptions to find which copies are first editions, first printings, first states or issues, etc.
- ABE database — Type "Frost" for the author and "Boy's Will" (without quotation marks) in the Search form, click on "Start Search" and see what results.
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Part 1 - Introduction
Part 2 - Importance of priority relative to book collecting Part 3 - Jargon - Reading a catalog description Part 4 - Jargon - Condition and its importance Part 5 - Bibliographies and other useful references Part 6 - Rarity & scarcity and supply & demand Part 7 - Ephemera - what is it and is it part of book collecting Part 8 - Understanding book values & pricing Part 9 - Some physical aspects of the book - bindings & paper Part 10 - Book illustrations - variety of & illustrators Part 11 - Investing in Antiquarian Books |