7 Paul Auster first editions are documented on this shelf, from The Invention of Solitude (1982) to Leviathan (1992) across 3 different publishers. Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that Paul Auster title from later printings and book-club copies — the publisher and year to expect, the number-line or edition-statement conventions, and the tells that show up in online listings.
Identification only, per the house rule: no prices and no appraisals here. Checking a Paul Auster copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.
- The Invention of Solitude — 1982 · SunPaperback original in pictorial wrappers from Sun (SUN, New York), 1982, ISBN 0-915342-37-5, with the first edition stated; no hardcover equivalent was issued, so the wrappers ARE the first edition. Auster's first prose book, a memoir, and scarce. The Sun paperback original is the true first; there is no preceding hardcover. A Penguin paperback also appeared in 1982 and later reissues (Penguin/Faber) follow, but the Sun wrappers precede them all. No book club edition; the Penguin and later imprints are distinct, separately published editions rather than printings of the Sun book.
- City of Glass — 1985 · Sun & Moon PressHardcover bound in dark blue cloth with gilt spine lettering, issued in a printed dust jacket; "First Edition" stated on the copyright page with a full descending number line. Issued as New American Fiction #4. The first-state dust jacket lacks the publisher's imprint at the foot of the spine; Sun & Moon later produced small tipped-on/loosely-inserted paper imprints to remedy the omission, and a third-state…. The US Sun & Moon Press (Los Angeles) printing is the true first; it precedes the collected New York Trilogy and any UK appearance. The 26 signed lettered copies are the priority issue. No book club edition; the later one-volume New York Trilogy collections (Penguin/Faber) are not the first appearance. The spine-imprint jacket states are the key collecting nuance.
- Ghosts — 1986 · Sun & Moon PressHardcover bound in blue cloth with gilt spine lettering, issued in a printed dust jacket; "First Edition" stated on the copyright page with a full descending number line. Second volume of The New York Trilogy. A limited issue of 26 lettered copies signed by the author also exists. The US Sun & Moon Press (Los Angeles) printing is the true first; it precedes the collected trilogy editions. The 26 signed lettered copies are the priority issue. No book club edition; the collected New York Trilogy volumes (Penguin/Faber) are later and not the first appearance.
- The Locked Room — 1986 · Sun & Moon PressFirst edition published by Sun & Moon Press, Los Angeles, 1986; the third and final volume of the New York Trilogy (after City of Glass, 1985, and Ghosts, 1986). Look for the first-edition statement on the copyright page. US Sun & Moon Press is the true first appearance in book form; it precedes the later collected one-volume New York Trilogy editions. No book-club edition of note; later collected one-volume trilogy editions are not the first appearance of this title.
- In the Country of Last Things — 1987 · VikingFirst edition, first printing by The Viking Press, New York, 1987. Bound in mustard-yellow papered boards with a quarter-cloth spine, in a color-illustrated dust jacket with the printed price present on the front flap. US Viking is the true first; the UK Faber edition (1988) follows. A Book-of-the-Month Club edition exists and can be distinguished by its smaller dimensions, absence of a number line, and the blind-stamp impression on the rear board.
- The Music of Chance — 1990 · VikingFirst edition, first printing by Viking, New York, 1990, octavo, 217 pages, bound in black paper-covered boards with a cloth spine. First printing carries a full number line including the 1 on the copyright page, and the printed price should be present on the jacket flap. US Viking is the true first; the UK Faber edition (1991) follows. A Book-of-the-Month Club edition exists and can be distinguished by its smaller dimensions, absence of a number line, and the blind-stamp impression on the rear board.
- Leviathan — 1992 · VikingFirst edition, first printing by Viking, New York, 1992, octavo, 275 pages, in white cloth-spine boards. First printing carries a full number line including the 1 on the copyright page, and the printed price should be present on the jacket flap. US Viking is conventionally cited as the first; the UK Faber edition also appeared in 1992, so the two are close in date, but US Viking is the standard cited first. A Book-of-the-Month Club edition exists and can be distinguished by its smaller dimensions, absence of a number line, and the blind-stamp impression on the rear board.
More Literary Fiction (US) & Award Winners shelves: Paul Bowles, Paul J. McAuley, Pearl S. Buck, Penelope Fitzgerald, Peter Ackroyd, Peter F. Hamilton.
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