Is My Asterix the Gaul (English first) a First Edition?

The points of issue

• French original-language true first: 'Asterix le Gaulois,' Dargaud, 1961, hardcover album
• First English-language edition: Brockhampton Press (London), 1969, hardcover in glazed pictorial boards, translated by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge, ISBN 0-340-04240-0, printed in Great Britain by Thomas Nelson, Edinburgh
• The English first is identified by the Brockhampton imprint and 1969 date

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. Read the indicia — a first-printing single issue carries no later-printing line; a collected edition is “first thus,” not the true first.
3. Verify this is the world true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
4. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

Format & printing

This title first appeared as a single issue / periodical, not a trade book. The true first is the first-printing single issue; later trade paperbacks or hardcover collections are “first thus.” Check the indicia (the small-print publication block) for a printing statement.

Is this the true first?

The Dargaud French edition of 1961 is the original-language true first. The Brockhampton 1969 edition is the first in English ('first thus'). Later Hodder and Orion English editions are reprints. Note that the page 35 art was redrawn in 1970 after the original plate was lost, so early printings can differ slightly there.P-025362

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition. The trap is later French Dargaud/Hachette printings and later UK Hodder reprints. Distinguish the French true first from the first English edition by imprint and date.P-025363

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Asterix the Gaul (English first) a first edition?

A first edition of Asterix the Gaul (English first) by René Goscinny & Albert Uderzo (Dargaud) is identified by: French original-language true first: 'Asterix le Gaulois,' Dargaud, 1961, hardcover album.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. For a single issue, the indicia shows the printing. The Dargaud French edition of 1961 is the original-language true first.

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

No book-club edition. The trap is later French Dargaud/Hachette printings and later UK Hodder reprints. Distinguish the French true first from the first English edition by imprint and date.

I have a first edition of Asterix the Gaul (English first) — 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.