Is My Divine Comedies a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Atheneum, New York, 1976; cloth-bound octavo, 136 pages, in a pictorial dust jacket
• The controlling point is the copyright-page statement: Atheneum stated "First Edition" on the copyright page of its first printings throughout this period and did not adopt a number row until the mid-1980s, so a 1976 Merrill in Atheneum cloth showing "First Edition" on the copyright page is the first printing, and its absence indicates a later printing
• No first-state text errors, binding variants, or jacket variants are documented for this title — the edition statement is the whole of the identification
• Jacket should be present and priced at the flap; price-clipped jackets are common
• No signed or limited issue of Divine Comedies is documented; signed copies encountered on the market are author-signed trade copies, some bearing a signature on a pasted-in label at the half-title, which is a provenance feature and not a separate issue

How Atheneum, New York marked a first edition

• Rule for the number-line era: the lowest number present indicates the printing, so a first printing must still show a 1 in the row. If the 1 (and any lower digits) have dropped off and the line begins at 2 or higher, it…
• Transitional caution: near the changeover a book may carry BOTH a 'First Edition' statement and a number row. When both are present, treat the terminal-1 number row as governing, because a printed 'First Edition' line ca…

Full Atheneum, New York 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 true first: Atheneum, New York, 1976 — the Pulitzer Prize-winning collection containing The Book of Ephraim and nine shorter poems. The British edition followed from Oxford University Press, Oxford/London, 1977 (ISBN 0192118676) and is collected as the first English edition, subordinate to the Atheneum printing. Both editions are collected; the Atheneum 1976 holds precedence. The census claim is confirmed on both points.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition documented. Later Atheneum printings are distinguished by the absence of the "First Edition" statement on the copyright page; an Atheneum paperback issue also exists (ISBN 0689108303) and is not the first. The Oxford University Press 1977 volume is a first-thus (first English edition), not a first edition, and should not be catalogued as a first.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Divine Comedies a first edition?

A first edition of Divine Comedies by James Merrill (Atheneum, New York) is identified by: Atheneum, New York, 1976; cloth-bound octavo, 136 pages, in a pictorial dust jacket.

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 true first: Atheneum, New York, 1976 — the Pulitzer Prize-winning collection containing The Book of Ephraim and nine shorter poems.

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

No book-club edition documented. Later Atheneum printings are distinguished by the absence of the "First Edition" statement on the copyright page; an Atheneum paperback issue also exists (ISBN 0689108303) and is not the first. The Oxford University Press 1977 volume is a first-thus (first English edition), not a first edition, and should not be catalogued as a first.

I have a first edition of Divine Comedies — 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.