Is My A Book of Mediterranean Food a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Octavo in original pink tweed cloth, the backstrip blocked in brown and lettered in gilt, in the John Minton illustrated dust wrapper (coloured Mediterranean bay and table scene, plus black-and-white Minton decorations within)
• The jacket is with its printed price on the front flap, as called for
• David's first book

How to confirm the first-printing statement

Publishers stated first printings differently by era. The decisive tells are a printed “First Edition/First Printing” statement, a number line whose lowest number is 1 (Random House ends at 2), or a dated first printing with no later printings listed. Paste your copyright page into the number-line decoder.

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Check for a number line or dated printing — the lowest number present is the printing; a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the tell.
3. Verify this is the UK true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
4. Rule out a book-club edition — a blind-stamp on the rear board or a jacket with no printed price marks a book-club copy.
5. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

The dust jacket

For a collectible first edition the dust jacket matters as much as the book. Confirm the jacket is present and unclipped — the printed price should still be at the corner of the flap (a clipped corner or a price-less flap can indicate a book-club issue). First-state jackets can differ from later ones in the cover art, blurbs, or review quotations; where a specific first-state jacket point is known for this title it is noted above.

Binding & format

Where multiple bindings exist, the hardcover trade issue is usually (but not always) the precedence copy — confirm against the points above. Later printings often show cheaper cloth, thinner boards, or simplified spine stamping. A simultaneous signed or limited issue, when one exists, is a distinct state from the trade first.

Is this the true first?

The UK John Lehmann 1950 edition is the true first. The revised illustrated Macdonald edition of 1955 and the Penguin paperback of 1955, with a new Minton cover, are later first-thus forms. There was no simultaneous US edition; later American printings are subordinate.P-007936

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Penguin paperbacks and later Macdonald and Dorling Kindersley reissues are reprints or revisions, not the 1950 first. The fragile Minton jacket, correctly with its printed price, is the key identification and condition point; rebound or jacketless copies are markedly less collectible.P-007937

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of A Book of Mediterranean Food a first edition?

A first edition of A Book of Mediterranean Food by Elizabeth David (John Lehmann) is identified by: Octavo in original pink tweed cloth, the backstrip blocked in brown and lettered in gilt, in the John Minton illustrated dust wrapper (coloured Mediterranean bay and table scene, plus black-and-white Minton decorations within).

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

Check the copyright page. A stated first edition, a number line ending in 1, or a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the key. The UK John Lehmann 1950 edition is the true first.

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

Penguin paperbacks and later Macdonald and Dorling Kindersley reissues are reprints or revisions, not the 1950 first. The fragile Minton jacket, correctly with its printed price, is the key identification and condition point; rebound or jacketless copies are markedly less collectible.

I have a first edition of A Book of Mediterranean Food — 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.