Is My Copy of Calling Out to Yeti (Wołanie do Yeti) a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The true first is a slim softcover in wrappers (broszura) — issued not in a dust jacket over boards but as a glued/stapled paperback, roughly 12 x 20 cm, collating 51, [2] pages
• The defining identification points are the standalone imprint "Wydawnictwo Literackie, Kraków, 1957" and, on the colophon, the state-era print statement of a very small run: antiquarian copies confirm "nakład 1135 egz." (a print run of just 1,135 copies), which is the single most telling scarcity point
• No "wydanie drugie" or later-printing line should appear
• Copies are often encountered "częściowo nierozcięty" (partially unopened/uncut at the fore-edge), consistent with period softcovers, but this is a condition trait rather than a printing distinction — do not treat trimming alone as proof of a later state

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. 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.
4. 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?

The true first edition is the 1957 Polish Wołanie do Yeti (Wydawnictwo Literackie, Kraków) — Szymborska's third book but her acknowledged mature debut, the volume in which she broke from Socialist Realism, containing signature poems including "Nic dwa razy" ("Nothing Twice"). There is no first-edition novel to chase; her canon is her poetry. The FIRST English-language book of her poetry is Sounds, Feelings, Thoughts: Seventy Poems, translated and introduced by Magnus J. Krynski and Robert A. Maguire (Princeton University Press, 1981; bilingual, Lockert Library of Poetry in Translation) — this, not the more famous later selection, is the true first in English. The book that drove her Anglophone fame just before the 1996 Nobel is View with a Grain of Sand: Selected Poems, translated by Stanisław Barańczak and Clare Cavanagh, preface by Mark Strand (Harcourt Brace, 1995) — the most-collected English title, but a 1995 selection, not the first English appearance.P-033909

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No U.S./U.K. book-club (BOMC-style) edition exists for the 1957 Polish first — the relevant traps are printing-generation and edition confusion, not a book-club reprint. Wołanie do Yeti was reprinted many times in Poland and reappears within later collected/selected volumes (e.g. Poezje wybrane, Wiersze wybrane), so confirm the standalone 1957 Wydawnictwo Literackie imprint and the tiny stated print run; any copy citing a later year or a "wydanie" beyond the first is a reprint. Note one unreliable attribution circulating in trade listings: at least one antiquarian description mis-assigns this title to "PIW, Warszawa" with a cover credited to "Zofia Włodarczyk" — Polish Wikipedia and the standard record give Wydawnictwo Literackie, Kraków, so treat the PIW/cover-designer claim as unverified. On the English side, the common trap is assuming View with a Grain of Sand (1995) is the first English book; the 1981 Princeton Sounds, Feelings, Thoughts precedes it. The 1995 Harcourt hardcover first is identified by the "Harcourt Brace & Company" imprint (ISBN 0-15-100153-7) and a full number line ending in 1 — distinct from the later trade paperback (ISBN 0-15-600216-7).P-033910

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Calling Out to Yeti (Wołanie do Yeti) a first edition?

A first edition of Calling Out to Yeti (Wołanie do Yeti) by Wisława Szymborska (Wydawnictwo Literackie) is identified by: The true first is a slim softcover in wrappers (broszura) — issued not in a dust jacket over boards but as a glued/stapled paperback, roughly 12 x 20 cm, collating 51, [2] pages.

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. The true first edition is the 1957 Polish Wołanie do Yeti (Wydawnictwo Literackie, Kraków) — Szymborska's third book but her acknowledged mature debut, the volume in which she broke from Socialist Realism, containing signature poems including "Nic dwa razy" ("Nothing Twice").

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

No U.S./U.K. book-club (BOMC-style) edition exists for the 1957 Polish first — the relevant traps are printing-generation and edition confusion, not a book-club reprint. Wołanie do Yeti was reprinted many times in Poland and reappears within later collected/selected volumes (e.g. Poezje wybrane, Wiersze wybrane), so confirm the standalone 1957 Wydawnictwo Literackie imprint and the tiny stated print run; any copy citing a later year or a "wydanie" beyond the first is a reprint.

I have a first edition of Calling Out to Yeti (Wołanie do Yeti) — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and decode the printing with the free First Edition Checker. Clearing out books? I take them as a free donation and make sure collectible copies are identified, not discarded: free pickup in the Albuquerque metro (scheduled by route), the 24/7 drop box at 5445 Edith Blvd NE, or donor-paid mail-in from anywhere in the US. Questions? Call or text 505-250-3804.

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.