Is My Epitaph of a Small Winner a First Edition?

The points of issue

• True first: the novel ran serially in Revista Brasileira
• and appeared in book form as Memorias Postumas de Bras Cubas, Tipographia Nacional, Rio de Janeiro, 1881 (roughly 3,000-4,000 copies; a copy is held at the Fundacao Casa de Rui Barbosa)
• English is a dual-title minefield: William L. Grossman's translation FIRST appeared in an obscure self-financed Sao Paulo printing of 1951 titled 'The Posthumous Memoirs of Braz Cubas,' which barely circulated; the widely collected first is the first US trade edition, 'Epitaph of a Small Winner,' Noonday Press, New York, 1952 (published 14 July 1952), translated by Grossman with illustrations by Shari Frisch and stating 'first American edition.' A UK edition (W. H. Allen, London, 1953) used the SAME title, 'Epitaph of a Small Winner.'

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. 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?

Original-language true first is the 1881 Rio de Janeiro (Tipographia Nacional) book edition. Under the title 'Epitaph of a Small Winner,' the US Noonday 1952 is first and precedes the UK W. H. Allen 1953; but the actual first-ever English rendering is Grossman's scarce 1951 Sao Paulo printing under the variant title 'The Posthumous Memoirs of Braz Cubas.' Do not conflate the modern re-translations titled 'The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas' (Rabassa, Oxford 1997; Thomson-DeVeaux, Penguin 2020) with the 1952 Grossman first — different translations, separate 'firsts thus.'

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Noonday later reissued the title in wrappers and under the Farrar, Straus / Noonday imprint — reprints of the 1952 setting. No book-club edition is a standard point; the scarce 1951 Sao Paulo printing is a precedence curiosity, not a book club.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Epitaph of a Small Winner a first edition?

A first edition of Epitaph of a Small Winner by Machado de Assis (Tipographia Nacional, Rio de Janeiro) is identified by: True first: the novel ran serially in Revista Brasileira (1880) and appeared in book form as Memorias Postumas de Bras Cubas, Tipographia Nacional, Rio de Janeiro, 1881 (roughly 3,000-4,000 copies; a copy is held at the Fundacao Casa de Rui Barbosa).

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. Original-language true first is the 1881 Rio de Janeiro (Tipographia Nacional) book edition.

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

Noonday later reissued the title in wrappers and under the Farrar, Straus / Noonday imprint — reprints of the 1952 setting. No book-club edition is a standard point; the scarce 1951 Sao Paulo printing is a precedence curiosity, not a book club.

I have a first edition of Epitaph of a Small Winner — 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.