Is My A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man a First Edition?

The points of issue

• True first is the New York B.W. Huebsch edition, issued 29 December 1916, dated 1916 on the title page
• Bound in publisher's blue cloth with gilt spine lettering
• The entire first printing was manufactured in the United States by Huebsch

How B.W. Huebsch marked a first edition

• c.1902–1925: First printings show the SAME date on the title page as on the copyright page with no additional printings listed; any later-printing line, or a title-page date later than the copyright date, indicates a rep…

Full B.W. Huebsch 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. 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 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?

Unusually, the US (Huebsch, 1916) precedes the UK. Harriet Shaw Weaver's Egoist Press issue of 22 January 1917 was made up from imported American Huebsch sheets with a cancel title page and English binding, so it is a British issue of the same first printing rather than a separate typesetting. The true first is therefore American.P-013503

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

The Egoist Press then set and printed a genuine second edition entirely in England in 1917; that and all later printings are distinguished by imprint and date, and modern reprints carry number lines absent from the 1916 Huebsch first.P-013504

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man a first edition?

A first edition of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce (B.W. Huebsch) is identified by: True first is the New York B.W.

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. Unusually, the US (Huebsch, 1916) precedes the UK.

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

The Egoist Press then set and printed a genuine second edition entirely in England in 1917; that and all later printings are distinguished by imprint and date, and modern reprints carry number lines absent from the 1916 Huebsch first.

I have a first edition of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man — 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.