Is My Copy of Cold Comfort Farm a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First edition, first impression: Longmans, Green and Co., London, published 8 September 1932
• Octavo (approx. 19 x 13 cm), collating xii, 307, [1] pp. Bound in the publisher's blue cloth with the lettering in white to the front board and spine — confirmed by two independent ABA/ILAB/PBFA dealer descriptions
• The first-issue jacket is priced at the flap, and unclipped copies retain that price
• The impression statement, not the title-page year, is the deciding point: dealers document a first-edition second impression also dated 1932 (the book sold immediately), so a 1932 title page alone does not establish a first impression — the copyright-page verso must be checked for an added impression or reprint statement
• No independent transcription of the first impression's verso wording was located, so none is published here

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 American 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?

True first is Longmans, Green and Co., London, 1932. The London first edition's own title-page imprint line reads 'London, New York & Toronto' because that was Longmans' standard triple imprint, so the presence of 'New York' on the title page does NOT make a copy American — the principal trap on this book. A Longmans, Green issue associated with New York and dated 1933 appears in aggregated library data but is not corroborated by a second independent source; it is in any case not the true first.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Longmans reprinted quickly, and a first-edition second impression dated 1932 is documented by a dealer — the commonest trap on this title. Later printings under other imprints (Penguin, Folio Society and Guild Publishing among those recorded) are reprints and carry their own imprints on the title page. No specific book-club issue of the 1932 Longmans first is corroborated by two independent sources.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Cold Comfort Farm a first edition?

A first edition of Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons (Longmans, Green and Co.) is identified by: First edition, first impression: Longmans, Green and Co., London, published 8 September 1932.

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. True first is Longmans, Green and Co., London, 1932.

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

Longmans reprinted quickly, and a first-edition second impression dated 1932 is documented by a dealer — the commonest trap on this title. Later printings under other imprints (Penguin, Folio Society and Guild Publishing among those recorded) are reprints and carry their own imprints on the title page. No specific book-club issue of the 1932 Longmans first is corroborated by two independent sources.

I have a first edition of Cold Comfort Farm — 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.