Is My Darker Than You Think a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First book edition: Fantasy Press, Reading, Pennsylvania, 1948. "First Edition" is stated on the copyright page with no further printing noted, per the Fantasy Press house practice documented by Quill & Brush and confirmed by L. W. Currey's Fantasy Press entries
• The printing was issued in two states: a limited issue of 500 copies hand-numbered and signed by Williamson on an integral limitation leaf, and an unsigned trade issue (catalogued by ABAA dealers as the "first trade edition") that lacks the leaf — both are the 1948 first edition
• Binding points agreed by two independent dealers: green cloth with the spine titled in gilt and orange/decorated illustrated endpapers; one dealer additionally reports the top and bottom edges of the text block stained black, which is uncorroborated and should not be relied on alone
• Interior illustration and the frontispiece are by Edd Cartier, with the dust-jacket art attributed to A. J. Donnell; the jacket's heavy black ink background rubs easily, so rubbing is a condition matter and not an issue point
• Note that dealer descriptions of the cloth shade vary between "green" and "turquoise" — treat them as describing the same cloth

How Fantasy Press marked a first edition

• Trade first edition: copyright page typically without later-printing notation; check against the known single print run (~3,000 copies)
• Signed/limited state is identified by a tipped-in or bound-in 'limitation leaf' after the title page, stating the limitation number and signed by the author (anywhere from ~250 to 500 numbered/signed copies per title)

Full Fantasy 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. 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 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 original and the true first book edition; the census claim is correct. It expands the novella of the same title from Unknown (December 1940) to novel length, so the magazine text is the only prior appearance and is not a book edition. No earlier or competing British edition is documented in the sources consulted — first British publication is later — so there is no UK-vs-US precedence question. New Mexico author (Portales).

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No contemporaneous book-club issue is documented in the sources consulted. The governing reprint tell is the Fantasy Press imprint itself: Quill & Brush records that the publisher's "First Edition" statement was sometimes left standing on offset reprints issued under other publishers' imprints, so a "First Edition" line means nothing unless the spine, title page and jacket all read Fantasy Press, Reading, Pennsylvania, 1948. Later paperback and trade reissues carry their own imprints and are readily distinguished.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Darker Than You Think a first edition?

A first edition of Darker Than You Think by Jack Williamson (Fantasy Press) is identified by: First book edition: Fantasy Press, Reading, Pennsylvania, 1948.

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 original and the true first book edition; the census claim is correct.

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

No contemporaneous book-club issue is documented in the sources consulted. The governing reprint tell is the Fantasy Press imprint itself: Quill & Brush records that the publisher's "First Edition" statement was sometimes left standing on offset reprints issued under other publishers' imprints, so a "First Edition" line means nothing unless the spine, title page and jacket all read Fantasy Press, Reading, Pennsylvania, 1948. Later paperback and trade reissues carry their own imprints and are rea

I have a first edition of Darker Than You Think — 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.