Is My Furious Seasons and Other Stories a First Edition?

The points of issue

• True first edition: Capra Press, Santa Barbara, 1977 — Carver's second story collection, octavo, 110 pp., printed in a total edition of 1,300 copies with two simultaneous states
• The trade issue of 1,200 copies is in printed wrappers: brown wraps with the title lettered in red on both the covers and the spine
• A signed-and-numbered issue of 100 copies was bound in black cloth with paper labels affixed to the front cover and spine, numbered on the colophon and signed by Carver
• The 1,200 wrappers plus 100 cloth copies account for the full 1,300-copy edition; the first printing carries no additional-printing notation

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. 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 Capra Press (Santa Barbara), 1977 is the sole true first. The collection had no separate contemporaneous UK edition — the Raymond Carver Review primary bibliography lists only the 1977 Capra printing, with these stories later absorbed into UK collections (e.g. Picador's The Stories of Raymond Carver, 1985). No original-language precedence issue.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition. The key distinction is the two 1977 states within the 1,300-copy total: 100 signed/numbered black-cloth hardcovers versus 1,200 printed-wrapper copies. Later reissues and trade paperbacks of the collection are not the Capra first.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Furious Seasons and Other Stories a first edition?

A first edition of Furious Seasons and Other Stories by Raymond Carver (Capra Press) is identified by: True first edition: Capra Press, Santa Barbara, 1977 — Carver's second story collection, octavo, 110 pp., printed in a total edition of 1,300 copies with two simultaneous states.

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 Capra Press (Santa Barbara), 1977 is the sole true first.

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

No book-club edition. The key distinction is the two 1977 states within the 1,300-copy total: 100 signed/numbered black-cloth hardcovers versus 1,200 printed-wrapper copies. Later reissues and trade paperbacks of the collection are not the Capra first.

I have a first edition of Furious Seasons and Other Stories — 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.