Is My A Column of Fire a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The US Viking (Viking, an imprint of Penguin) first printing carries a complete number line ending in 1 on the copyright page
• The octavo volume of roughly 916 pages is bound in original half cloth with pictorial (illustrated) endpapers, and is issued in a pictorial dust jacket whose front flap bears the printed price (present and unclipped on an unaltered first-issue jacket)
• A Kingsbridge (Pillars of the Earth) novel and third in that sequence

How Viking marked a first edition

• From about 1937 onward: first printings state "First published by The Viking Press in [year]" or "Published by The Viking Press in [year]" with no later-printing notice; later printings were noted, and from the 1980s a n…

Full Viking 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 number line — the lowest number is the printing. A line including 1 is a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2). Paste it into the decoder.
4. Verify this is the US true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
5. 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.
6. 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?

Published September 12, 2017. The US Viking edition and the UK Macmillan edition both appeared in 2017 as first editions; the Viking printing with a complete number line ending in 1 is the standard US first. Collectors treat the UK Macmillan and US Viking issues as parallel firsts of their respective markets rather than one preceding the other outright.P-017893

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Later printings lack the complete descending number line ending in 1; confirm the terminal 1 on the copyright page to distinguish the first printing from subsequent Viking printings.P-017894

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of A Column of Fire a first edition?

A first edition of A Column of Fire by Ken Follett (Viking) is identified by: The US Viking (Viking, an imprint of Penguin) first printing carries a complete number line ending in 1 on the copyright page.

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

Check the copyright page. A number line whose lowest number is 1 marks a first printing (Random House ends at 2). Published September 12, 2017.

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

Later printings lack the complete descending number line ending in 1; confirm the terminal 1 on the copyright page to distinguish the first printing from subsequent Viking printings.

I have a first edition of A Column of Fire — 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.