Is My Born of Man and Woman a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Matheson's first book, collecting seventeen stories with an introduction by Robert Bloch; two stories ("Dear Diary" and "The Traveller") appear here for the first time
• Dealers describe the copyright page as carrying a first-edition statement, but the decisive point is structural: the Chamberlain Press printing is the only printing that exists
• L. W. Currey records that approximately 650 copies were distributed before a flood destroyed most of the unsold bound copies and a later warehouse fire destroyed the remaining unbound sheets — so a genuine Chamberlain Press copy is by definition a first
• Bound in red cloth, the spine titled in black and the front cover decorated in black
• 252 pages
• The pictorial dust jacket was designed by Mel Hunter and carries a printed price at the flap

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 first: The Chamberlain Press, Inc., Philadelphia, 1954 — the only hardcover printing and the true first of Matheson's first book. Two abridged successors are routinely mis-sold as firsts. Bantam's US paperback of 1955, retitled Third from the Sun (Bantam number 1294), drops four stories. The first British edition — Max Reinhardt, London, 1956 — runs to 164 pages and drops the Robert Bloch introduction along with four stories; it is collected as the first UK edition but is an abridged text, not the complete book, and dealer descriptions of its binding conflict (black boards lettered silver in one, red boards lettered gilt in another), so binding alone should not be used to authenticate it.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club printing is documented, and the destroyed print run left no stock for one. The reprint traps are the abridged Bantam Third from the Sun (1955) and the abridged Max Reinhardt (1956), plus modern collector reissues from Gauntlet Press, Subterranean Press and Suntup Editions, which reprint the 1954 text and are "first thus" only.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Born of Man and Woman a first edition?

A first edition of Born of Man and Woman by Richard Matheson (The Chamberlain Press, Inc., Philadelphia) is identified by: Matheson's first book, collecting seventeen stories with an introduction by Robert Bloch; two stories ("Dear Diary" and "The Traveller") appear here for the first time.

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 first: The Chamberlain Press, Inc., Philadelphia, 1954 — the only hardcover printing and the true first of Matheson's first book.

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

No book-club printing is documented, and the destroyed print run left no stock for one. The reprint traps are the abridged Bantam Third from the Sun (1955) and the abridged Max Reinhardt (1956), plus modern collector reissues from Gauntlet Press, Subterranean Press and Suntup Editions, which reprint the 1954 text and are "first thus" only.

I have a first edition of Born of Man and Woman — 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.