Is My Breakdowns a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The true first is the 1977 Belier Press oversized hardcover, 'Breakdowns: From Maus to Now
• An Anthology of Strips,' large quarto (roughly 10 by 14 inches) with glossy pictorial boards and illustrated endleaves, unpaginated, printed in an edition of fewer than 3,000 copies and now scarce
• The 2008 Pantheon 'Breakdowns: Portrait of the Artist as a Young %@&*!' is an expanded first-thus with a new introductory comic and long afterword

How Belier Press / Pantheon marked a first edition

• A true first has both the 'First Edition' statement and the 1 present; reprints drop 'First Edition' and/or the 1.
• Earlier Pantheon (pre-RH, founded 1942): identification by absence of additional printings and by stated 'First Edition' / 'First Printing' where present.

Full Belier Press / Pantheon first-edition guide →

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Read the indicia — a first-printing single issue carries no later-printing line; a collected edition is “first thus,” not the true first.
3. Verify this is the world true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
4. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

Format & printing

This title first appeared as a single issue / periodical, not a trade book. The true first is the first-printing single issue; later trade paperbacks or hardcover collections are “first thus.” Check the indicia (the small-print publication block) for a printing statement.

Is this the true first?

True first is the 1977 Belier Press oversized edition. The 2008 Pantheon expanded edition is a later first-thus, roughly doubled in length.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

The 2008 Pantheon expansion is a distinct later edition, not a reprint of the 1977 original.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Breakdowns a first edition?

A first edition of Breakdowns by Art Spiegelman (Belier Press / Pantheon) is identified by: The true first is the 1977 Belier Press oversized hardcover, 'Breakdowns: From Maus to Now.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. For a single issue, the indicia shows the printing. True first is the 1977 Belier Press oversized edition.

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

The 2008 Pantheon expansion is a distinct later edition, not a reprint of the 1977 original.

I have a first edition of Breakdowns — what should I do?

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 lost. To sell, see the author’s collecting guide. Either way, nothing collectible ends up in a landfill.

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.