Italo Calvino First Editions

• The Path to the Nest of the Spiders — 1956 (UK Collins); 1957 (US Beacon Press) · CollinsFirst English translation by Archibald Colquhoun of Il sentiero dei nidi di ragno. The UK Collins edition (London) appeared in 1956; the US Beacon Press edition (Boston) followed and is dated 1957 on its title page, issued in the publisher's dust jacket which should retain its printed price. First English of Il sentiero dei nidi di ragno (Einaudi, 1947). The Collins London edition of 1956 is the first in English and precedes the American edition. The Beacon Press first American edition is dated 1957, not 1956, as confirmed by ABAA dealer descriptions. No notable book-club edition of the first-edition period.
• The Baron in the Trees — 1959 · Random HouseTranslated from the Italian by Archibald Colquhoun. The US Random House first edition states First Printing on the copyright page. It is an octavo of 217 pages, bound in army-green cloth boards stamped with wavy lines in green, red and gilt, and carries a mustard-yellow top stain. The first-issue dust jacket should retain the printed price on the front flap; a UK Collins edition also appeared in 1959. First English translation of Il barone rampante (Einaudi, 1957). Both the US Random House and UK Collins editions are dated 1959 and appear essentially concurrent; precedence between them is not firmly established, so neither should be asserted as the sole true first without a copy-in-hand comparison. A Random House book-club issue exists; it is identified by the absence of a printed price on the jacket and a blind-embossed dot to the rear board, not by any stamp on the true first, which states First Printing.
• The Nonexistent Knight & The Cloven Viscount — 1962 · Random HouseTranslated from the Italian by Archibald Colquhoun. US Random House first edition, 1962, collating 246 pages plus a one-page author biography. The Random House first is bound in black cloth, lettered in gilt on the spine and decorated in blue and gilt, and issued in a pictorial dust jacket bearing a printed price on the front flap (a first-state jacket should retain that printed price). A UK Collins edition also…. First English-language publication of the two novellas in one volume (Il visconte dimezzato, 1952; Il cavaliere inesistente, 1959). The US Random House and UK Collins editions are both dated 1962 and are essentially concurrent; precedence between them is not firmly established. The pair was later collected with The Baron in the Trees as Our Ancestors. A book-club issue is distinguished by the absence of a printed jacket price and a blind-embossed mark to the rear board, not by any stamp on the true first.
• Cosmicomics — 1968 · Harcourt, Brace & WorldFirst American edition, Harcourt, Brace & World, 1968, 153 pages, translated by William Weaver; bound in light blue cloth boards. The first-issue dust jacket carries a color design by Robin Forbes and should retain its printed price on the flap. Weaver's translation later won the 1969 National Book Award in the translation category. First English translation of Le cosmicomiche (Einaudi, 1965). US Harcourt, Brace & World 1968 precedes the UK Jonathan Cape edition of 1969. A book-club issue is identified by the absence of a printed price on the jacket flap; the true first carries the printed jacket price.
• Cosmicomics (Le cosmicomiche) — 1968 · Harcourt, Brace & World, New YorkFirst US edition and first English-language edition; Harcourt, Brace & World, 1968, translated by William Weaver (octavo, cloth in dust jacket). The Harcourt, Brace & World imprint (pre-Jovanovich merger) is a key tell for the 1968 first. The world first is the Italian 'Le cosmicomiche' (Einaudi, 1965). The 1968 Harcourt, Brace & World edition is the first edition in English; Weaver's translation won the 1969 National Book Award for translation. A UK edition followed in 1969. Later printings carry the Harcourt Brace Jovanovich imprint (post-1970 merger), a quick tell against the 1968 first printing.
• t zero — 1969 · Harcourt, Brace & WorldFirst American edition, Harcourt, Brace & World, New York, 1969, 152 pages; translated from the Italian by William Weaver. Dust jacket designed by Anita Walker Scott, with the printed price present to the front flap on a first-issue jacket. First English translation of Ti con zero (Einaudi, 1967). The US Harcourt edition of 1969 precedes the UK edition (Jonathan Cape, 1970), which appeared under the title Time and the Hunter. A book-club issue is identified by the absence of a printed jacket price and typically a blind-stamped dot or depression to the rear board; the true first carries a printed jacket price.
• The Watcher and Other Stories — 1971 · Harcourt Brace JovanovichFirst US edition, first printing, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York, 1971; translated from the Italian by William Weaver and Archibald Colquhoun. Octavo, 181 pages, bound in beige cloth stamped in black and gold on the spine, with the top edge stained green, in a printed pictorial dust jacket that carries a printed price on the front flap. First English collection gathering The Watcher (La giornata d'uno scrutatore, 1963), Smog (La nuvola di smog, 1958), and The Argentine Ant (La formica argentina, 1952). A book-club issue is identified by the absence of a printed price on the jacket flap; the true first carries a printed jacket price. Book-club copies are also typically lighter in weight with blind-stamped or dot-marked boards.
• Invisible Cities — 1974 · Harcourt Brace JovanovichUS Harcourt Brace Jovanovich 1974 first edition, stated First edition on the copyright page with the HBJ letter line beginning at B (First Edition / B C D E), reflecting the 1973 to 1983 practice of dropping the A. Translated by William Weaver. First English translation of Le citta invisibili (Einaudi, 1972). The US Harcourt edition and the UK Secker and Warburg edition both appeared in 1974; the US issue is generally treated as the first English publication. A later book-club printing lacks the stated First edition line and letter string on the copyright page and typically has no price on the jacket; identify by the absence of the number line rather than by any single stamp.
• Invisible Cities (Le città invisibili) — 1974 · Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New YorkFirst US edition and first English-language edition; Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York, 1974, translated by William Weaver and issued as a Helen and Kurt Wolff Book. The copyright page credits the Italian original 1972 and this translation 1974, with no statement of a later printing. Bound in quarter grey buckram with black paper over the boards; 165 pages. First-issue dust jacket designed by Arnold Skolnick: a…. The world first is the Italian 'Le città invisibili' (Einaudi, Turin, 1972). The 1974 Harcourt US edition is the first edition in English (Weaver translation), preceding the UK Secker & Warburg edition issued later in 1974. No true book-club edition is a concern here; later Harcourt and Vintage paperbacks carry full number lines and ISBNs and are reprints, not the first edition.
• The Castle of Crossed Destinies — 1976 · Harcourt Brace JovanovichUS Harcourt Brace Jovanovich 1976 first edition, stated First edition with the HBJ letter line beginning at B (First Edition / B C D E) per the 1973 to 1983 practice. Translated by William Weaver; illustrated with Tarot card reproductions. First English translation of Il castello dei destini incrociati (Einaudi, 1973). US Harcourt 1976; UK Secker and Warburg 1977, so the US edition is the first English publication. A later book-club printing lacks the stated First edition line and letter string and usually carries no jacket price; identify by the missing number line rather than by a stamp alone.
• If on a winter's night a traveler — 1979 · Giulio EinaudiItalian 'Se una notte d'inverno un viaggiatore,' Einaudi, Turin, 1979, is the true first. First English edition: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York, 1981 (translated by William Weaver), cloth-covered boards, roughly 260 pages, the jacket designed by Rubin Pfeffer with a photograph by Benn Mitchell and the printed price present on the flap; UK Secker & Warburg followed in 1981. True first is the Italian Einaudi 1979. First in English is the US Harcourt Brace Jovanovich 1981; later US printings are noted on the copyright page, so the first should show no later-printing statement. Later printings are shown by the copyright-page printing statement; English firsts are distinguished by imprint (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich for the US, Secker & Warburg for the UK) and the printed jacket price.
• Italian Folktales — 1980 · Harcourt Brace JovanovichUS Harcourt Brace Jovanovich 1980 first edition, a Helen and Kurt Wolff book, stated First edition with the HBJ letter line beginning at B (First Edition / B C D E) per the 1973 to 1983 practice. Translated by George Martin. First complete English translation of Fiabe italiane (Einaudi, 1956), selected and retold by Calvino, in the Harcourt 1980 edition. A later book-club printing lacks the stated First edition line and letter string and typically has no jacket price; identify by the absence of the number line.
• If on a winter's night a traveler (Se una notte d'inverno un viaggiatore) — 1981 · Harcourt Brace JovanovichFirst US edition in English, translated by William Weaver. The first printing states 'First edition' on the copyright page with the letterline 'B C D E' (the suppressed 'A' is the Harcourt convention for a first printing). Dust jacket priced 12.95 to the front flap, unclipped. The jacket lettering and title typography are a documented design feature of the first edition. True first appearance in English is the US Harcourt edition of 1981, preceding the UK Secker & Warburg edition of the same year. The Italian original was published by Einaudi in 1979. No significant book-club issue affects the points here; later trade paperbacks carry number lines and are not the first edition.
• Marcovaldo, or The Seasons in the City — 1983 · Harcourt Brace JovanovichUS Harcourt Brace Jovanovich 1983 first edition, stated First edition with the HBJ letter line beginning at B (First Edition / B C D E) per the 1973 to 1983 practice. Translated by William Weaver; drawings by Sergio Tofano. First English translation of Marcovaldo ovvero Le stagioni in citta (Einaudi, 1963). US Harcourt and UK Secker and Warburg editions both appeared in 1983. A later book-club printing lacks the stated First edition line and letter string and usually has no jacket price; identify by the missing number line rather than by a stamp.
• Difficult Loves — 1983 (UK) / 1984 (US) · Secker & WarburgThe US Harcourt Brace Jovanovich edition is dated 1984 and, because 1984 falls after the 1973 to 1983 no-A window, its copyright page states First edition with the full letter line beginning at A (First Edition / A B C D E). The UK Secker and Warburg edition is dated 1983. Translators across the two editions include William Weaver, Archibald Colquhoun, and Peggy Wright. The US 1984 Harcourt volume is NOT the first English appearance of this material. The UK Secker and Warburg edition (London, 1983) precedes it, and three of the stories were first translated for that 1983 British edition before the fuller American selection of 1984. The two editions differ in contents, so neither is a straightforward reprint of the other. A later book-club printing of the US edition lacks the stated First edition line and the A-initial letter string and typically has no jacket price; identify by the absence of the number line.
• Mr. Palomar — 1985 · Harcourt Brace JovanovichUS Harcourt Brace Jovanovich 1985 first edition, a Helen and Kurt Wolff book, with First American edition stated and the HBJ letter line beginning at A (First Edition / A B C D E), since 1985 is after the 1973 to 1983 no-A window. Translated by William Weaver. First English translation of Palomar (Einaudi, 1983). US Harcourt and UK Secker and Warburg editions both appeared in 1985. A later book-club printing lacks the stated First edition line and the A-initial letter string and usually has no jacket price; identify by the missing number line rather than by a stamp.
• The Uses of Literature — 1986 · Harcourt Brace JovanovichFirst US edition, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, San Diego, 1986; translated from the Italian by Patrick Creagh; essays selected by Calvino. Approximately 341 pages; issued in publisher's cloth with a blue-green (teal) cloth spine over blue paper-covered boards, in a dust jacket that should retain its printed price on the flap. First English-language essay collection drawn from the Italian 'Una pietra sopra' (1980). The UK Secker and Warburg volume 'The Literature Machine' (1987) is a separate, differently selected translation of the same source, not simply a retitled reissue, so the 1986 Harcourt US book is the true first for this particular selection and title. No notable book-club edition.
• Six Memos for the Next Millennium — 1988 · Harvard University PressHarvard University Press (Cambridge, Massachusetts), 1988, first edition; translated by Patrick Creagh. The five Charles Eliot Norton Lectures Calvino was preparing for 1985-86. First printing is bound in gray cloth boards with the author and title stamped on the spine in copper, 124 pages, in a dust jacket that should retain its printed price (unclipped). First English-language edition of the five completed lectures Calvino left unfinished at his death in 1985; includes a preface by Esther Calvino. No notable book-club edition.
• Under the Jaguar Sun — 1988 · Harcourt Brace JovanovichFirst US edition, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1988, issued as 'A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book' and translated by William Weaver. The first printing is identified by the letter line 'ABCDE' on the copyright page, with the 'A' present. Bound in black boards with a black quarter-cloth spine; the first-issue color dust jacket is unclipped, with the printed price present. First English translation of the posthumous 'Sotto il sole giaguaro' (1986); three stories from Calvino's unfinished 'I cinque sensi.'. No notable BCE.
• The Road to San Giovanni — 1993 · PantheonFirst US edition, Pantheon Books, New York, 1993, translated from the Italian by Tim Parks; about 150 pages. The first printing is a stated 'First American Edition' on the copyright page with no later-printing statement. The first-issue jacket should retain its printed flap price. First English translation of the posthumous La strada di San Giovanni; a set of five autobiographical 'memory exercises' with an introduction by Esther Calvino. A UK Jonathan Cape edition also appeared in 1993; US/UK precedence is not firmly established, so neither can be called the unambiguous true first English-language edition. No notable BCE.
• Numbers in the Dark and Other Stories — 1995 · PantheonFirst US edition, Pantheon Books, New York, 1995; translated from the Italian by Tim Parks. The collection gathers thirty-seven pieces arranged as Fables and Stories 1943-1958 and Tales and Dialogues 1968-1984, in cloth boards with a priced dust jacket. First English translation of the posthumous collection 'Prima che tu dica "Pronto"' (1993). The UK Jonathan Cape edition (ISBN 0224037323) and the US Pantheon edition (ISBN 0679442057) both appeared in 1995; US/UK precedence is not firmly established, and dealers list the two editions inconsistently. No notable BCE.

More Literary Fiction (UK & World) shelves: J. M. Coetzee, James Ngugi (Ngugi wa Thiong'o), Javier Marías (trans. Margaret Jull Costa), Jean-Paul Sartre, J.G. Farrell, John Berger.

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