Is My Bless Me, Ultima a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Copyright page carries a 'First Printing' statement dated June 1972 (Berkeley: Quinto Sol Publications)
• Issued SIMULTANEOUSLY in two states:
• pictorial card wrappers — the common state — collating xiv, 248, [2] pp.; and
• a small hardcover state in black cloth boards with the spine lettered in silver
• The key point sits on the hardcover's dust jacket: the FIRST-issue jacket mistakenly prints the WRAPPERS (paperback) price at the front flap, and the publisher quickly revised it up to the hardcover price by pasting a correction sticker over the flap
• A hardcover whose jacket still shows the uncorrected (lower, wrappers) flap price — or the tell-tale sticker-shadow where a correction label was later peeled — carries the sought first-issue jacket

How Quinto Sol Publications marked a first edition

• Imprint “Quinto Sol Publications, Inc.” with a Berkeley, California address
• No number lines and no explicit first-edition statements — identification is by physical points of issue

Full Quinto Sol Publications first-edition guide →

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Confirm the first-edition statement — look for “First Edition,” “First Printing,” or the publisher’s equivalent wording.
3. 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.
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?

Quinto Sol, Berkeley, June 1972 is the true first; no edition precedes it. Cloth and wrappers were issued at the same time, so neither format 'precedes' the other — but the cloth (hardcover) state is markedly scarcer, and the hardcover wearing the uncorrected first-issue jacket (the mistaken wrappers price at the flap) is the recognized collecting trophy. Signed copies (Anaya) are sought. Later Warner Books and TQS Publications printings are 'first thus,' not firsts.P-037236

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition. The usual confusion is with later Warner Books and TQS Publications reprints — a different publisher, and no 'First Printing / June 1972' statement on the copyright page. On the 1972 hardcover itself, a jacket whose flap price has been corrected (sticker pasted over the mistaken wrappers price) is simply a later jacket STATE, not a reprint of the book — the book block is still the 1972 first printing.P-037237

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Bless Me, Ultima a first edition?

A first edition of Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo A. Anaya (Quinto Sol Publications) is identified by: Copyright page carries a 'First Printing' statement dated June 1972 (Berkeley: Quinto Sol Publications).

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. Quinto Sol, Berkeley, June 1972 is the true first; no edition precedes it.

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

No book-club edition. The usual confusion is with later Warner Books and TQS Publications reprints — a different publisher, and no 'First Printing / June 1972' statement on the copyright page. On the 1972 hardcover itself, a jacket whose flap price has been corrected (sticker pasted over the mistaken wrappers price) is simply a later jacket STATE, not a reprint of the book — the book block is still the 1972 first printing.

I have a first edition of Bless Me, Ultima — 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.