Is My At Swim-Two-Birds a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First published by Longmans, Green & Co., London, on 13 March 1939, the author's debut novel
• The first issue is bound in publisher's black cloth with the spine lettered in gilt and a green top-stain; the scarce first-issue jacket carries a Graham Greene endorsement on the rear panel and the price present at the flap
• A second issue exists, bound up by Longmans in grey cloth from unbound sheets of the same 1939 printing that survived the bombing of the publisher's London premises — because the sheets are identical, the binding cloth colour (black versus grey) is the operative point, not anything in the text
• The novel sold barely more than 240 copies before the war and almost all unsold stock was incinerated in the 1940 raid on Longmans' Paternoster Row premises, so copies in the original jacket are rarely met with; the jacket is the single hardest element to find

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?

Longmans, Green & Co. (London), 1939, is the true first and the only appearance under this imprint in the author's lifetime. Pantheon Books (New York) issued the first American edition in 1951, and it is a genuine trap: the Pantheon copyright page states only 'First published 1939' and carries no American date, so it is regularly mistaken for the London first. The Pantheon issue is identified instead by its yellow paper-covered boards lettered in black over a black cloth spine lettered in yellow, with a yellow jacket printed in black. Wikipedia dates the Pantheon reissue to 1950, but the dealer catalogues consulted (Ulysses Rare Books, Second Story Books) and the trade listings date it 1951.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition of the 1939 Longmans printing is documented in the sources consulted. The grey-cloth second issue is a publisher's rebinding of surviving first-printing sheets — not a club or reprint edition — and is collected in its own right. The principal reprint tell for this title remains the 1951 Pantheon American issue, whose '1939' copyright line misleads.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of At Swim-Two-Birds a first edition?

A first edition of At Swim-Two-Birds by Flann O'Brien (Longmans, Green & Co.) is identified by: First published by Longmans, Green & Co., London, on 13 March 1939, the author's debut novel.

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. Longmans, Green & Co.

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

No book-club edition of the 1939 Longmans printing is documented in the sources consulted. The grey-cloth second issue is a publisher's rebinding of surviving first-printing sheets — not a club or reprint edition — and is collected in its own right. The principal reprint tell for this title remains the 1951 Pantheon American issue, whose '1939' copyright line misleads.

I have a first edition of At Swim-Two-Birds — 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.