Is My 300 a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Serial: five-issue oversized limited series, Dark Horse, with the first issue dated May 1998 and the series running monthly through September 1998
• First collected edition: oversized landscape hardcover, Dark Horse, 1999, ISBN 1-56971-402-8
• , with each original two-page spread presented as a single page
• The first-print collected edition states the first printing

How Dark Horse Comics marked a first edition

• Trade paperbacks / hardcovers: the indicia/copyright page states 'First edition:' or 'First printing:' with month and year; later printings update the wording.
• Many Dark Horse collected editions print a printing-history line that adds dates as printings accrue — a first printing shows a single date.

Full Dark Horse Comics first-edition guide →

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Confirm the first-edition statement — look for “First Edition,” “First Printing,” or the publisher’s equivalent wording.
3. Read the indicia — a first-printing single issue carries no later-printing line; a collected edition is “first thus,” not the true first.
4. Verify this is the world true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
5. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

Format & printing

This title first appeared as a single issue / periodical, not a trade book. The true first is the first-printing single issue; later trade paperbacks or hardcover collections are “first thus.” Check the indicia (the small-print publication block) for a printing statement.

Is this the true first?

The 1998 five-issue series is the serial first appearance; the 1999 oversized landscape hardcover is the first collected book. Distinguish serial from collected; later film tie-in printings from about 2006 to 2007 carry movie art.P-009348

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition. Film tie-in and later printings are later. Verify the 1998 and 1999 first printings and the original non-film cover and oversized landscape format.P-009349

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of 300 a first edition?

A first edition of 300 by Frank Miller & Lynn Varley (Dark Horse Comics) is identified by: Serial: five-issue oversized limited series, Dark Horse, with the first issue dated May 1998 and the series running monthly through September 1998.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. For a single issue, the indicia shows the printing. The 1998 five-issue series is the serial first appearance; the 1999 oversized landscape hardcover is the first collected book.

Is the book-club edition the same as the first?

No book-club edition. Film tie-in and later printings are later. Verify the 1998 and 1999 first printings and the original non-film cover and oversized landscape format.

I have a first edition of 300 — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap — an unclipped, priced jacket matters. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and use the free First Edition Checker to decode the printing. To sell, the author’s collecting guide covers the market. And if you are clearing books in the Albuquerque area, the New Mexico Literacy Project offers free pickup, any condition, and makes sure collectible copies are identified rather than discarded.

Glossary

First edition

Every copy printed from the first setting of type. Collectors usually want the first edition, first printing (the true first).

First printing / impression

A single press run from that setting. The first printing is the earliest and most desirable; later printings are still the first edition but not the true first.

Number line (printer's key)

A row of numbers on the copyright page (e.g. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1). The lowest number present is the printing — a line including 1 marks a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2).

Points of issue

Specific physical details — a stated edition, a number line, a typo, a jacket state — that identify the true first printing.

Book-club edition (BCE)

A reprint made for a book club. Tells include a blind-stamped dot or square on the rear board and a dust jacket with no printed price. Not the true first.

First thus

The first appearance of a particular version (first paperback, first illustrated, first U.S. printing) — a first of that kind, not the first edition of the work.