Is My Copy of Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First printing hardcover, Houghton Mifflin, Boston and New York, June 8 2006, ISBN 0-618-47794-2 (978-0-618-47794-4)
• First printing carries the full descending number line ending in 1 (10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1) on the copyright page with no later-printing statement
• Bound in neon-orange decorative paper boards under a pictorial jacket showing the family house; price present on the jacket flap

How Houghton Mifflin marked a first edition

• Number-line era (early 1970s to 2007, HMH thereafter): the 'First Printing' statement was replaced by a descending number line on the copyright page. A first printing is indicated when the line runs down to and ENDS IN 1…

Full Houghton Mifflin 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?

US true first by an American author published first in the United States. Distinguish from the UK Jonathan Cape edition and from the later trade-paperback issue, which is a separate later printing.P-001205

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No notable book-club edition; the common trap is later printings under the same ISBN, so confirm the number line ends in 1. The paperback (2007) is a separate later issue.P-001206

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic a first edition?

A first edition of Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel (Houghton Mifflin) is identified by: First printing hardcover, Houghton Mifflin, Boston and New York, June 8 2006, ISBN 0-618-47794-2 (978-0-618-47794-4).

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

Check the copyright page. For a single issue, the indicia shows the printing. US true first by an American author published first in the United States.

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

No notable book-club edition; the common trap is later printings under the same ISBN, so confirm the number line ends in 1. The paperback (2007) is a separate later issue.

I have a first edition of Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and decode the printing with the free First Edition Checker. Clearing out books? I take them as a free donation and make sure collectible copies are identified, not discarded: free pickup in the Albuquerque metro (scheduled by route), the 24/7 drop box at 5445 Edith Blvd NE, or donor-paid mail-in from anywhere in the US. Questions? Call or text 505-250-3804.

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.