Is My Black Spring a First Edition?

The points of issue

• True first is the Paris Obelisk Press printing, 1936, from Obelisk's address at 338 Rue Saint-Honoré, Paris — one of 1,000 copies
• Issued in original pictorial self-wrappers (soft covers), uncut and often partially unopened, with a deckle-edged text block
• The pictorial front panel was designed by M. J. Kahane — Maurice Kahane, son of Obelisk's founder Jack Kahane, later known as Maurice Girodias of the Olympia Press
• An original Obelisk Press price ticket is present at the front flap fold and on the rear panel — a priced wrapper
• The book is dedicated to Anaïs Nin; it is Miller's second book, following Tropic of Cancer
• and preceding Tropic of Capricorn

How The Obelisk Press marked a first edition

• Pre-1929: same date on title page and copyright page, no additional printings listed.
• 1929 onward: state 'First Published (year)' or 'First Edition' on the copyright page.

Full The Obelisk Press first-edition guide →

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?

TRUE FIRST IS PARIS — Obelisk Press, 1936, in wrappers; the census is correct. Miller wrote in English, so the Paris edition is the true first and the first in the original language; it was banned across the English-speaking world on publication. The first American edition is Grove Press, New York, 1963 — confirmed, matching the census claim — issued after Grove's successful court challenge; it is a "first American edition, first printing", not a first edition. Both the Obelisk 1936 and the Grove 1963 are collected, the 1936 decisively so. There is no UK edition preceding the American one.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue is documented for the Paris first. The reprint tell is the Grove Press 1963 first American edition: half black boards over striated grey boards, gilt spine lettering with the author's signature in gilt, 243 pages — a hardcover, where the true first is a wrappered book. Black Spring was never issued in publisher's cloth in Paris, so a cloth-bound copy is either the Grove edition or a later private binding of the Paris sheets; a rebound Paris copy remains a first but has lost its identifying wrappers.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Black Spring a first edition?

A first edition of Black Spring by Henry Miller (The Obelisk Press) is identified by: True first is the Paris Obelisk Press printing, 1936, from Obelisk's address at 338 Rue Saint-Honoré, Paris — one of 1,000 copies.

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. TRUE FIRST IS PARIS — Obelisk Press, 1936, in wrappers; the census is correct.

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

No book-club issue is documented for the Paris first. The reprint tell is the Grove Press 1963 first American edition: half black boards over striated grey boards, gilt spine lettering with the author's signature in gilt, 243 pages — a hardcover, where the true first is a wrappered book. Black Spring was never issued in publisher's cloth in Paris, so a cloth-bound copy is either the Grove edition or a later private binding of the Paris sheets; a rebound Paris copy remains a first but has lost it

I have a first edition of Black Spring — 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.