Is My Call It Sleep a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First edition, first printing: Robert O. Ballou, New York, 1934; vi (or v, [i]), 599 pp., octavo — the author's first book
• Bound in publisher's blue cloth with navy stamping on the spine, lettered in gilt, with a black topstain
• The jacket carries the decisive point: the first-state wrap-around pictorial jacket, designed by the muralist Stuyvesant Van Veen, has NO blurb from The Minneapolis Star
• The second printing, issued about a month after the first, wears a second-state jacket carrying blurbs from Edwin Seaver and Fred T. Marsh on the front flap — i.e. contemporary review quotes on the front flap indicate the second printing, not the first
• The jacket should be priced at the flap and unclipped
• The second printing reproduces the same Van Veen jacket art and is itself scarce, so jacket state — not artwork — is what separates them

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. 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. Verify this is the US true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
5. 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.
6. 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 Robert O. Ballou, New York, 1934 is the only true first; the census claim is confirmed. The novel sold roughly 4,000 copies and then lapsed out of print for close to thirty years. The first British edition is Michael Joseph, London, 1963, which appeared only in the wake of the rediscovery and is not a precedence contender; the 1964 Avon paperback, following Irving Howe's front-page New York Times Book Review notice of 25 October 1964, drove the revival.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue of the 1934 Ballou printing is documented in the sources consulted. The rediscovery-era issues are the 'first thus' traps: Michael Joseph (London, 1963), the 1964 Avon paperback, and later Farrar, Straus and Giroux and Picador reissues. Because only the first two Ballou printings carry the Van Veen jacket, a Van Veen jacket alone does not establish the first printing — the Minneapolis Star blurb test does.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Call It Sleep a first edition?

A first edition of Call It Sleep by Henry Roth (Robert O. Ballou) is identified by: First edition, first printing: Robert O.

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 Robert O.

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

No book-club issue of the 1934 Ballou printing is documented in the sources consulted. The rediscovery-era issues are the 'first thus' traps: Michael Joseph (London, 1963), the 1964 Avon paperback, and later Farrar, Straus and Giroux and Picador reissues. Because only the first two Ballou printings carry the Van Veen jacket, a Van Veen jacket alone does not establish the first printing — the Minneapolis Star blurb test does.

I have a first edition of Call It Sleep — 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.