Is My Anthem a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The Cassell first is identified by "First Published 1938" on the copyright page, with no later-printing statement below it
• Duodecimo, 147 pages, bound in the publisher's mottled red and black cloth, top edge stained black, black endpapers; dealers cite Perinn A2a
• The printing was small — roughly 3,500 copies are reported — and jacketed copies are seldom seen
• Two dust-jacket states are recorded: one with the price present at the spine, and one lacking the price but with "Colonial Edition" printed on the lower front flap
• The trade's traditional ordering (priced state first) is disputed, because Colonial jackets were frequently printed ahead of domestic ones; treat jacket precedence here as unsettled rather than settled, and identify the book from the copyright page and binding

How Cassell and Company marked a first edition

• Pre-early-1920s: year printed on the TITLE PAGE of the first edition with the copyright page left blank; later printings carry a later copyright-page date or reprint note
• Early 1920s onward: "First published [Year]" or "First published in Great Britain [Year]" stated on the copyright page of firsts; subsequent printings noted

Full Cassell and Company 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 American 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?

Census claim confirmed. The true first is Cassell and Company, London, 1938 — Anthem was refused American publication and appeared in Britain first. Both editions are collected, but they are not the same text. The first American edition is Pamphleteers, Inc., Los Angeles, 1946, issued in printed paper wrappers in a reported 2,000 copies with a new foreword by Rand; it prints a text she revised and cut by roughly 18 percent (about 19,190 words against the Cassell text's 23,484). The Cassell 1938 is the only edition carrying the original, unrevised text. The 1946 Pamphleteers is the first appearance of the revised text — a first thus and the American first, not the book's first edition.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue is documented for the 1938 Cassell printing. The commonest confusion is the 1946 Pamphleteers wrappers issue being catalogued flatly as a "first edition": it is the first American edition of a revised text. An issue point recorded within the 1946 Pamphleteers printing is the address "725 Venice Boulevard" on the title page. All the later Signet and mass-market paperbacks descend from the 1946 revision, not from the Cassell text.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Anthem a first edition?

A first edition of Anthem by Ayn Rand (Cassell and Company) is identified by: The Cassell first is identified by "First Published 1938" on the copyright page, with no later-printing statement below it.

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. Census claim confirmed.

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

No book-club issue is documented for the 1938 Cassell printing. The commonest confusion is the 1946 Pamphleteers wrappers issue being catalogued flatly as a "first edition": it is the first American edition of a revised text. An issue point recorded within the 1946 Pamphleteers printing is the address "725 Venice Boulevard" on the title page. All the later Signet and mass-market paperbacks descend from the 1946 revision, not from the Cassell text.

I have a first edition of Anthem — 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.