Is My Candy a First Edition?

The points of issue

• TRUE FIRST is Paris, not New York: The Olympia Press, Traveller's Companion Series No
• 64, published October 1958 under the pseudonym 'Maxwell Kenton,' in the series' original green printed wrappers
• First issue has the original printed franc price at the rear wrapper NOT overstamped; copies bearing a later price overstamp are the later state
• Most of the roughly 5,000-copy run was seized and destroyed by French authorities, prompting Girodias to reissue the same text retitled 'Lollipop' (still as Maxwell Kenton, TC No
• 64) with tell-tale alterations to the opening leaves — the dedication changed to 'Master Boon and Master Badj' and the epigraph re-attributed to Rimbaud rather than Voltaire; 'Lollipop' is the ban-evasion reissue, NOT the true first

How The Olympia Press marked a first edition

• 1953–1965 (Paris, under Maurice Girodias): titles were issued in printed paper wrappers, not cloth. The Traveller's Companion Series appeared in plain green text-only wrappers, each bearing a series number. A first print…

Full The Olympia Press first-edition guide →

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 American 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?

Precedence: Paris Olympia Press 1958 (as Maxwell Kenton) is the true first. The first American edition is G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1964, under the authors' real names — a 'first thus,' bound in three-quarter purple cloth over black paper boards with red endpapers and red top-stain, no printing statement on the copyright page; first-state jacket points are the James Jones blurb (not Nelson Algren) on the rear panel and the code '0464' at the foot of the front flap. Both the Paris true first and the Putnam first American are collected; do not let the Putnam 'first American edition' slug pass as the true first.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

The retitled 'Lollipop' (Olympia) is a suppression-driven reissue, not a book club. Numerous later Olympia/derivative and paperback issues are reprints; for the US line, the Putnam 1964 first-state jacket points above separate the true American first from later printings.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Candy a first edition?

A first edition of Candy by Terry Southern and Mason Hoffenberg (as 'Maxwell Kenton') (The Olympia Press) is identified by: TRUE FIRST is Paris, not New York: The Olympia Press, Traveller's Companion Series No.

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. Precedence: Paris Olympia Press 1958 (as Maxwell Kenton) is the true first.

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

The retitled 'Lollipop' (Olympia) is a suppression-driven reissue, not a book club. Numerous later Olympia/derivative and paperback issues are reprints; for the US line, the Putnam 1964 first-state jacket points above separate the true American first from later printings.

I have a first edition of Candy — 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.