Is My Copy of Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Bound in black cloth-backed boards with gilt lettering to the spine; issued with illustrated map endpapers and black-and-white text illustrations
• The first US printing carries the copyright-page number line in Walker and Company's characteristic offset hybrid form, 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2, with the lowest figure
• present, together with a first US publication statement dated 1997
• The first-state jacket should retain its printed price to the corner (a clipped example is acceptable, but the price should originally have been present)

How Walker and Company marked a first edition

• British convention: a first printing carries a complete number line on the copyright page ending in 1 (commonly '2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1' or '10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1'); the lowest digit present is the printing
• Typically NO 'First edition' statement on UK firsts — rely on the complete number line

Full Walker and Company 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 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.
3. Verify this is the US 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?

US Walker and Company (New York) is the true first, 1997; the UK Jonathan Cape edition followed in 1998.P-020908

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Confirm the full Walker number line 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 (with the 1 present) on the copyright page. Later or reprinted issues drop the 1 from the line, and the mass-market Penguin paperback is a separate, later issue rather than the first.P-020909

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World a first edition?

A first edition of Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World by Mark Kurlansky (Walker and Company) is identified by: Bound in black cloth-backed boards with gilt lettering to the spine; issued with illustrated map endpapers and black-and-white text illustrations.

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 Walker and Company (New York) is the true first, 1997; the UK Jonathan Cape edition followed in 1998.

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

Confirm the full Walker number line 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 (with the 1 present) on the copyright page. Later or reprinted issues drop the 1 from the line, and the mass-market Penguin paperback is a separate, later issue rather than the first.

I have a first edition of Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World — 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.