Is My Footnotes in Gaza a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First edition hardcover, Metropolitan Books (an imprint of Henry Holt / Macmillan), 2009
• ISBN 0805073477 / 9780805073478
• First printing carries a complete number line ending in 1 on the copyright page and a first-issue jacket retaining its printed price (amount aside)
• An oversized, heavy volume of roughly 432 pages of comics journalism about the 1956 killings at Khan Younis and Rafah

How Metropolitan Books / Henry Holt marked a first edition

• Pre-1945: first editions identified chiefly by the ABSENCE of any later-printing statement on the copyright page.
• 1945–c.1985: usually placed a 'First Edition' statement on the copyright page of US-produced books (no statement on books produced outside the US).

Full Metropolitan Books / Henry Holt 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 indicia — a first-printing single issue carries no later-printing line; a collected edition is “first thus,” not the true first.
4. Verify this is the US true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
5. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

Format & printing

This title first appeared as a single issue / periodical, not a trade book. The true first is the first-printing single issue; later trade paperbacks or hardcover collections are “first thus.” Check the indicia (the small-print publication block) for a printing statement.

Is this the true first?

The first book edition is the 2009 Metropolitan Books / Henry Holt hardcover (US). Metropolitan is the Holt imprint under which it appeared, so references to Holt and to Metropolitan describe the same first printing.P-014763

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Later printings are indicated by a shortened number line no longer ending in 1.P-014764

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Footnotes in Gaza a first edition?

A first edition of Footnotes in Gaza by Joe Sacco (Metropolitan Books / Henry Holt) is identified by: First edition hardcover, Metropolitan Books (an imprint of Henry Holt / Macmillan), 2009; ISBN 0805073477 / 9780805073478.

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

Check the copyright page. For a single issue, the indicia shows the printing. The first book edition is the 2009 Metropolitan Books / Henry Holt hardcover (US).

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

Later printings are indicated by a shortened number line no longer ending in 1.

I have a first edition of Footnotes in Gaza — 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.