Is My Ash-Wednesday a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The signed limited edition of 1930 precedes the Faber trade edition
• The limitation totaled 600 copies, all signed by Eliot and numbered: 400 copies for The Fountain Press in America and 200 copies for Faber in Britain
• The true first is identified by the signed limitation leaf
• The Faber trade edition, also 1930, follows and lacks the signature and limitation

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. 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?

The 600-copy signed limited edition (1930, split between the American Fountain Press issue and the British Faber issue) precedes the Faber trade edition. It is inaccurate to call the limited a purely US Fountain Press book: the limitation was shared, with 400 copies for America and 200 for Britain, all signed.P-030374

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book club edition. The trade edition is distinguished from the limited by the absence of the signed, numbered limitation leaf.P-030375

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Ash-Wednesday a first edition?

A first edition of Ash-Wednesday by T. S. Eliot (The Fountain Press) is identified by: The signed limited edition of 1930 precedes the Faber trade edition.

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. The 600-copy signed limited edition (1930, split between the American Fountain Press issue and the British Faber issue) precedes the Faber trade edition.

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

No book club edition. The trade edition is distinguished from the limited by the absence of the signed, numbered limitation leaf.

I have a first edition of Ash-Wednesday — 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.