Is My Autobiography of a Yogi a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The true first is the Philosophical Library, New York issue, first printed December 1946: octavo, xvi + 498 pp., frontispiece portrait of the author, roughly forty-nine black-and-white photographs and illustrations, a map of India, and a preface by W. Y. Evans-Wentz (LCCN 47000544)
• Dealers describe the binding consistently as publisher's blue cloth (dark blue boards) stamped in gilt on the front board and spine
• Philosophical Library used no printing statement, so identification rests on the 1946 date at the title page together with a copyright page bearing no later-edition notice — the house's own second
• , third/enlarged
• and fourth
• editions each name themselves

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 US 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?

US precedes; US-only for the true first. Philosophical Library, New York, December 1946 is the true first edition. The first British edition followed from Rider and Company, London, 1949 (403 pp., publisher's blue cloth with gilt lettering, photo frontispiece); it is collected as the first UK appearance but is not the true first. The book was written in English, so no original-language precedence question arises.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition is documented for the 1946 Philosophical Library issue. The reprint traps are the publisher's own later editions (2nd 1949, 3rd enlarged 1951, 4th 1952); the Self-Realization Fellowship line beginning with the fifth edition in 1954, after SRF acquired rights in October 1953, whose text was posthumously edited; the Rider/Ebury-Random House UK line; the Indian Jaico and Yogoda Satsanga printings; and modern reprints marketed as 'The Original 1946 Edition' (e.g. Crystal Clarity, ISBN 1565892127), which reset the 1946 text but are new books, not 1946 sheets.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Autobiography of a Yogi a first edition?

A first edition of Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda (Philosophical Library) is identified by: The true first is the Philosophical Library, New York issue, first printed December 1946: octavo, xvi + 498 pp., frontispiece portrait of the author, roughly forty-nine black-and-white photographs and illustrations, a map of India, and a preface by W.

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. US precedes; US-only for the true first.

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

No book-club edition is documented for the 1946 Philosophical Library issue. The reprint traps are the publisher's own later editions (2nd 1949, 3rd enlarged 1951, 4th 1952); the Self-Realization Fellowship line beginning with the fifth edition in 1954, after SRF acquired rights in October 1953, whose text was posthumously edited; the Rider/Ebury-Random House UK line; the Indian Jaico and Yogoda Satsanga printings; and modern reprints marketed as 'The Original 1946 Edition' (e.g. Crystal Clarity

I have a first edition of Autobiography of a Yogi — 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.