Is My Citizen: An American Lyric a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Paperback original — Graywolf issued no trade hardcover, so a hardcover copy is not a first
• First printing is identified on the copyright page: below the ISBN is a number line, and the lowest number present is the printing (this is Graywolf's own published guidance), so a first printing reads down to 1; a line reading down to 3, for example, is the third printing
• Textual first-printing point: page 134 in the first printing carries the date November 23, 2012 and a single memorial line naming Jordan Russell Davis
• Rankine deliberately expanded that page in successive printings, adding the names of further African Americans killed (Eric Garner, John Crawford, Michael Brown and others), so any copy showing additional names on page 134 is a later printing
• Graywolf publishes a PDF reproducing page 134 across ten printings for comparison
• The book had gone through at least twenty-two printings by August 2020, and later printings are otherwise visually near-identical to the first

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. Read the number line — the lowest number is the printing. A line including 1 is a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2). Paste it into the decoder.
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 true first: Minneapolis: Graywolf Press, 7 October 2014, ISBN 978-1-55597-690-3, a paperback original. The first British edition followed from Penguin Books, London, 2 July 2015, ISBN 9780141981772, and is separately collected as the UK first. CORRECTION to the census claim: the first printing is NOT identified by the absence of award medallions. No source documents a medallion or award-sticker issue point; Citizen's awards (National Book Award finalist 2014, National Book Critics Circle Award, Forward Prize, Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, PEN Open Book Award) postdate the first printing but are not a documented point of issue. Identify by the number line and the page 134 state.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition documented. Because the book is a paperback original in continuous reprint with an unchanged cover design, later printings are easily mistaken for the first — the only reliable tells are the copyright-page number line and the expanded page 134 memorial list.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Citizen: An American Lyric a first edition?

A first edition of Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine (Graywolf Press, Minneapolis) is identified by: Paperback original — Graywolf issued no trade hardcover, so a hardcover copy is not a first.

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

Check the copyright page. A number line whose lowest number is 1 marks a first printing (Random House ends at 2). US true first: Minneapolis: Graywolf Press, 7 October 2014, ISBN 978-1-55597-690-3, a paperback original.

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

No book-club edition documented. Because the book is a paperback original in continuous reprint with an unchanged cover design, later printings are easily mistaken for the first — the only reliable tells are the copyright-page number line and the expanded page 134 memorial list.

I have a first edition of Citizen: An American Lyric — 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.