Is My A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1978
• Dealers of confirmed firsts consistently record the copyright-page wording as 'First Trade Edition' beneath the Borzoi colophon (distinguishing the trade issue from the separately produced leather limited edition), with no later-printing statement
• Bound in black cloth over boards, lettered in gilt on the front board and spine, with a deckle (rough) fore-edge and illustrated endpapers
• The first-state dust jacket is a color pictorial jacket and should retain its printed price
• Collates roughly xx, 677 pages with color and black-and-white plates

How Alfred A. Knopf marked a first edition

• c.1970s onward (number-line era, added ALONGSIDE the words — it did not replace them): later Knopf firsts also carry a descending numeric printer's key (often with a manufacturing/printer code). A first printing shows th…

Full Alfred A. Knopf first-edition guide →

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 US 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?

US Knopf (New York) true first trade edition, 1978. The Franklin Library also issued a full-leather limited edition (First Edition Society) in 1978 by special arrangement with Knopf, with gilt-decorated covers, moire endpapers, all-gilt edges and a facsimile-signed introductory leaf; it is a separate deluxe issue rather than the trade first.P-036456

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Book-club issue lacks the stated first line and the jacket price, is typically a smaller/lighter volume, and commonly shows a blind-stamp (dot or square) on the rear board; the Franklin Library leather issue is a distinct limited edition, not a book-club printing.P-036457

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century a first edition?

A first edition of A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century by Barbara W. Tuchman (Alfred A. Knopf) is identified by: Knopf, New York, 1978.

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. US Knopf (New York) true first trade edition, 1978.

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

Book-club issue lacks the stated first line and the jacket price, is typically a smaller/lighter volume, and commonly shows a blind-stamp (dot or square) on the rear board; the Franklin Library leather issue is a distinct limited edition, not a book-club printing.

I have a first edition of A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century — 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.