Is My Cuckoo's Egg a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Phantasia Press hardcover, a single print run of about 2,400 copies bound in cloth with gilt spine titling and issued in a dust jacket bearing cover art by Randall Asplund
• The first 350 copies are the signed/numbered deluxe issue: numbered and signed by Cherryh on a rear limitation page and housed in a publisher's slipcase; the remaining copies form the unnumbered trade issue in jacket without slipcase

How Phantasia Press marked a first edition

• Limitation page identifies the signed/numbered limited state; titles were issued in both a signed-numbered slipcased limited state (carrying a signed limitation leaf) and an unsigned trade hardcover
• Trade first identified by copyright page lacking any later-printing notice; many titles are the first HARDCOVER edition of works first published as mass-market paperbacks, so 'first edition' here often means first-in-for…

Full Phantasia 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 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 Phantasia Press hardcover (1985) is the true first; the DAW paperback followed later in 1985. Presence of a numbered, signed rear limitation page (numbered within 350) plus slipcase distinguishes the deluxe issue from the trade issue, which lacks the limitation and slipcase.P-003691

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

A later book-club hardcover exists; it lacks the Phantasia limitation page, colophon and Asplund-jacketed slipcase and is smaller and cheaply bound. It should not be confused with the Phantasia first.P-003692

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Cuckoo's Egg a first edition?

A first edition of Cuckoo's Egg by C.J. Cherryh (Phantasia Press) is identified by: Phantasia Press hardcover, a single print run of about 2,400 copies bound in cloth with gilt spine titling and issued in a dust jacket bearing cover art by Randall Asplund.

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. US Phantasia Press hardcover (1985) is the true first; the DAW paperback followed later in 1985.

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

A later book-club hardcover exists; it lacks the Phantasia limitation page, colophon and Asplund-jacketed slipcase and is smaller and cheaply bound. It should not be confused with the Phantasia first.

I have a first edition of Cuckoo's Egg — 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.