Is My Fever Pitch a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First printing: Victor Gollancz Ltd, London, 1992, octavo, 248 pp., in the publisher's grey boards lettered in gilt to the spine, issued in the original dust jacket with the price present at the front flap (unclipped; price-clipping is common and does not by itself make a copy a later issue)
• The first edition carries the subtitle 'A Fan's Life', which was dropped from later paperback issues — a subtitle-present copy is a necessary but not sufficient test
• Gollancz used no number line on this title, so the first impression is identified negatively: the copyright page must show the 1992 'first published in Great Britain by Victor Gollancz Ltd' statement and no reprint or later-impression line beneath it
• Grey boards with gilt spine and the absence of a reprint statement are agreed across ABA/ILAB and ABAA-level dealer descriptions; no first-state text error or binding variant is recorded for this title

How Victor Gollancz Ltd marked a first edition

• From 1984 onward: began stating "First published in [Year] by Victor Gollancz Ltd" on the copyright page of firsts

Full Victor Gollancz Ltd 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. Read the number line — the lowest number is the printing. A line including 1 is a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2). Paste it into the decoder.
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?

The Victor Gollancz, London, 1992 hardcover is the true first edition worldwide and the only edition with first-edition standing. The census note that a revised 1994 US edition exists is NOT corroborated and is corrected here: no US hardcover first is recorded, one dealer (Lorne Bair Rare Books) records the first American appearance as a Penguin (New York) pictorial paperback dated 1992, and the Riverhead Books US trade paperback (published 1 March 1998, per the publisher's own catalogue) is a 'first thus'. Because the US appearances are paperback and later, there is no UK/US precedence contest — collectors take the Gollancz hardcover.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No Gollancz book-club issue of the 1992 first is documented. The traps on this title are 'first thus' rather than club: the Penguin/Indigo paperback issues (which drop the 'A Fan's Life' subtitle), the Riverhead US trade paperback of 1998, and the Penguin Modern Classics reissue of August 2012 are all later editions. Any copyright page bearing an impression statement after the 1992 'first published' line is a reprint of the first edition, not the first printing.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Fever Pitch a first edition?

A first edition of Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby (Victor Gollancz Ltd) is identified by: First printing: Victor Gollancz Ltd, London, 1992, octavo, 248 pp., in the publisher's grey boards lettered in gilt to the spine, issued in the original dust jacket with the price present at the front flap (unclipped; price-clipping is common and does not by itself make a copy a later issue).

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A number line whose lowest number is 1 marks a first printing (Random House ends at 2). The Victor Gollancz, London, 1992 hardcover is the true first edition worldwide and the only edition with first-edition standing.

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

No Gollancz book-club issue of the 1992 first is documented. The traps on this title are 'first thus' rather than club: the Penguin/Indigo paperback issues (which drop the 'A Fan's Life' subtitle), the Riverhead US trade paperback of 1998, and the Penguin Modern Classics reissue of August 2012 are all later editions. Any copyright page bearing an impression statement after the 1992 'first published' line is a reprint of the first edition, not the first printing.

I have a first edition of Fever Pitch — 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.