Is My A Wizard of Earthsea a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First edition, first printing: Parnassus Press, Berkeley, 1968, drawings by Ruth Robbins (who also designed the jacket)
• The decisive first-printing point — documented by L.W. Currey — is a faint vertical ink smudge running the full height of the TITLE PAGE (generally through the 'r'/'d' of 'Wizard' down toward the 'P'/'s' of 'Press')
• Copies WITHOUT this smudge are later printings; the second printing adds a linen backing and lacks the smudge
• First printing was about 6,800 copies
• Issued in cloth with the Robbins jacket; the priced jacket flap should be present

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 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?

US Parnassus Press 1968 is the true world first (a small press; modest print run). The first UK edition is Gollancz, 1971. The Parnassus first is far scarcer than the Gollancz. A trade issue and a simultaneous library issue exist (the library issue has a variant binding with reinforced hinges and rear-cover text); they share the same jacket and there is no established priority between them — both are first printing provided the title-page smudge is present.P-037400

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Later Parnassus printings (no title-page smudge, linen backing), the later Atheneum printings, and the UK Gollancz edition are all later than the Parnassus first. An Atheneum or Gollancz imprint is decisive for a later edition — but among Parnassus-imprint copies, it is the title-page smudge, not the imprint alone, that separates a true first printing from a later Parnassus printing.P-037401

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of A Wizard of Earthsea a first edition?

A first edition of A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin (Parnassus Press) is identified by: First edition, first printing: Parnassus Press, Berkeley, 1968, drawings by Ruth Robbins (who also designed the jacket).

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 Parnassus Press 1968 is the true world first (a small press; modest print run).

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

Later Parnassus printings (no title-page smudge, linen backing), the later Atheneum printings, and the UK Gollancz edition are all later than the Parnassus first. An Atheneum or Gollancz imprint is decisive for a later edition — but among Parnassus-imprint copies, it is the title-page smudge, not the imprint alone, that separates a true first printing from a later Parnassus printing.

I have a first edition of A Wizard of Earthsea — 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.