Is My Ash: A Secret History a First Edition?

The points of issue

• UK Gollancz hardcover, London, 2000, is the first appearance of the complete novel in a single volume; issued in dust jacket
• Identify by the 2000 Gollancz title page and no later-printing statement
• The US Avon Eos edition split the text into four mass-market paperbacks, a materially different form

How Gollancz marked a first edition

• Classic British-house method: 'First published <year>' on the copyright/verso with NO later-printing or 'reprinted' statements; an unbroken impression line or absence of added impression dates confirms a first
• The distinctive plain YELLOW dust jacket with black + magenta typography (no pictorial art) is a strong era marker for firsts roughly 1920s–mid-1980s

Full Gollancz 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 UK 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?

Precedence here is genuinely split. The complete novel first appeared as one volume from Gollancz in the UK in 2000. However, the US Avon Eos paperback split released its first volume, titled A Secret History, in 1999, ahead of the UK single volume, with the remaining three volumes (Carthage Ascendant, The Wild Machines, Lost Burgundy) following in 2000. So the UK Gollancz 2000 is the first single-volume edition, but it is not the first appearance of the opening text in print. Ash won the 2000 BSFA Award for Best Novel and the 2001 Sidewise Award for Alternate History.P-021151

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

The US four-volume Avon Eos paperbacks are a separate publishing form; the first of them (1999) actually predates the UK single volume. Later reissues are reprints.P-021152

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Ash: A Secret History a first edition?

A first edition of Ash: A Secret History by Mary Gentle (Gollancz) is identified by: UK Gollancz hardcover, London, 2000, is the first appearance of the complete novel in a single volume; issued in dust 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. Precedence here is genuinely split.

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

The US four-volume Avon Eos paperbacks are a separate publishing form; the first of them (1999) actually predates the UK single volume. Later reissues are reprints.

I have a first edition of Ash: A Secret History — 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.