Is My Animalia a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First printing: Viking Kestrel (the Penguin Books Australia imprint), Ringwood, Victoria, 1986 — a large square quarto, unpaginated, bound in illustrated laminated hard boards and issued in the original pictorial dust jacket; for jacket state, look for a priced jacket with the price present at the flap rather than clipped
• The ISBN of the Australian first is 0-670-81536-5
• Two independent Australian dealers catalogue the 1986 Viking Kestrel Melbourne issue as first edition, first printing, and agree on the unpaginated collation, the illustrated laminated boards, and the original dust jacket
• Independently, the National Centre for Australian Children's Literature's archival guide to the Graeme Base papers records the first entry for the title as 'Animalia / Graeme Base
• Ringwood, Vic: Viking Kestrel, 1986'
• No number line is used; identification rests on the Viking Kestrel imprint, the Ringwood/Melbourne place, and the 1986 date on the copyright page

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. 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 Australian 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?

The Australian edition is the true first — the census claim is correct, subject to one refinement: the place of publication is properly Ringwood, Victoria (Penguin Australia's base, in greater Melbourne), which dealers variously render as 'Melbourne' or 'South Yarra, Melbourne'. Viking Kestrel also issued the book in the UK in 1986. The US first is Harry N. Abrams, New York, 1987, and is separately collected as the first American edition; the NCACL guide notes the book 'was very quickly published overseas, including by Harry N Abrams, New York'. A Canadian Stoddart edition (1988) and a 1986 Puffin Australia softcover also exist and are 'first thus'. Cataloguing trap: the CBCA Picture Book of the Year Honour was awarded in 1987 for the 1986 book, and the award year is frequently mistaken for the publication year.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition is documented for the 1986 Australian first. Later-issue tells: the 1986 Puffin Australia softcover, the Abrams 1987 US issue, the Stoddart (Toronto) 1988 issue, and the long run of Penguin Australia reprints (Ringwood 1995, 1996, 1997; Camberwell 2002, 2006; Melbourne 2012 onward) are all later printings. The 10th and 25th anniversary editions, 'My First Animalia' (Melbourne: Penguin, 2013), the Animalia wall frieze tie-in, and the Graeme Base collector's set (Camberwell: Viking, 2012) are 'first thus' traps, not firsts.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Animalia a first edition?

A first edition of Animalia by Graeme Base (Viking Kestrel) is identified by: First printing: Viking Kestrel (the Penguin Books Australia imprint), Ringwood, Victoria, 1986 — a large square quarto, unpaginated, bound in illustrated laminated hard boards and issued in the original pictorial dust jacket; for jacket state, look for a priced jacket with the price present at the flap rather than clipped.

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). The Australian edition is the true first — the census claim is correct, subject to one refinement: the place of publication is properly Ringwood, Victoria (Penguin Australia's base, in greater Melbourne), which dealers variously render as 'Melbourne' or 'South Yarra, Melbourne'.

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

No book-club edition is documented for the 1986 Australian first. Later-issue tells: the 1986 Puffin Australia softcover, the Abrams 1987 US issue, the Stoddart (Toronto) 1988 issue, and the long run of Penguin Australia reprints (Ringwood 1995, 1996, 1997; Camberwell 2002, 2006; Melbourne 2012 onward) are all later printings. The 10th and 25th anniversary editions, 'My First Animalia' (Melbourne: Penguin, 2013), the Animalia wall frieze tie-in, and the Graeme Base collector's set (Camberwell: V

I have a first edition of Animalia — 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.