Is My A Handful of Darkness a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First edition: Rich & Cowan, London, published August 1955, 216 pages
• The copyright page reads "First Published – 1955"; there is no date on the title page
• FIRST BINDING: blue boards lettered in silver with a rocket/spaceship device on the spine panel — catalogued by L. W. Currey as "first binding of blue boards with spine panel stamped in silver"
• A later binding state is orange boards (also recorded in blue) lettered in black with a griffin device on the panel
• JACKET STATES: the first-issue jacket does NOT list World of Chance on the rear panel; the later jacket lists World of Chance and is found on both binding states, so binding and jacket must be assessed separately — an orange-boards copy in a World-of-Chance jacket is a later state of the first edition, not a first issue
• Jacket art by Peter Rudland

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. Confirm the first-edition statement — look for “First Edition,” “First Printing,” or the publisher’s equivalent wording.
3. 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.
4. Verify this is the UK 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?

UK original; Rich & Cowan (London) 1955 is the true first of this collection — there is no competing period US edition, and America did not see one until Gregg Press in 1978. The census is right that the Ace collection The Variable Man (1957) is a different book with different contents. REFUTES the census claim that this is "PKD's first book anywhere": Solar Lottery (Ace Books D-103, a paperback original, May 1955) preceded it by roughly three months and is Dick's first book. A Handful of Darkness is correctly described as Dick's SECOND book, his first short-story collection, and his first hardcover — the formulation used by the standard PKD bibliographic sources. Note a related snare: the Rich & Cowan hardcover of the novel — World of Chance, the retitled and revised UK Solar Lottery — is 1956, so it postdates this collection despite Solar Lottery preceding it in the US; some sources garble this into a claim that Rich & Cowan published Dick before A Handful of Darkness, which they did not.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition is documented for the Rich & Cowan first. The tells that matter are internal to the edition: the 1957 Rich & Cowan second printing; the later orange-boards/black-lettering/griffin binding in place of the first blue-boards/silver/rocket binding; and the later jacket listing World of Chance on the rear panel. The Gregg Press (US) 1978 hardcover is a later reprint and the first American appearance, not a first edition.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of A Handful of Darkness a first edition?

A first edition of A Handful of Darkness by Philip K. Dick (Rich & Cowan) is identified by: First edition: Rich & Cowan, London, published August 1955, 216 pages.

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. UK original; Rich & Cowan (London) 1955 is the true first of this collection — there is no competing period US edition, and America did not see one until Gregg Press in 1978.

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

No book-club edition is documented for the Rich & Cowan first. The tells that matter are internal to the edition: the 1957 Rich & Cowan second printing; the later orange-boards/black-lettering/griffin binding in place of the first blue-boards/silver/rocket binding; and the later jacket listing World of Chance on the rear panel. The Gregg Press (US) 1978 hardcover is a later reprint and the first American appearance, not a first edition.

I have a first edition of A Handful of Darkness — 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.