Is My Grimscribe: His Lives and Works a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The Robinson (London, 1991) first edition is an octavo bound in publisher's boards with a pictorial dust jacket, ISBN 1-85487-090-4
• L.W. Currey (ABAA) catalogues it flatly as "First edition," with no qualifier
• The Carroll & Graf (New York, 1991) issue is a 214 pp. octavo, ISBN 0-88184-739-9; library cataloguing of that issue records the title-page verso reading "First published in Great Britain 1991" — the standard acknowledgement of prior British publication, and the point that settles precedence
• Dealer descriptions of the US issue note a purple spine lettered in white and a pictorial jacket with the price present at the flap
• Neither 1991 hardcover is reported to carry a number line, so identification rests on the imprint, the copyright-page wording, and the jacket; no first-state text errors are documented for either issue

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. 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 UK 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?

Both 1991 hardcovers are collected, but the UK Robinson Publishing edition has priority: the American issue's own title-page verso states "First published in Great Britain 1991," and Currey records the Robinson book as the first edition. Month-level publication dates for the two 1991 printings are not published, so the Carroll & Graf book is correctly described as the first American edition, not the first edition. The census claim (Robinson precedes Carroll & Graf) is confirmed.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue is documented for either 1991 hardcover. The Jove mass-market paperback (October 1994) is a reprint. Two "first thus" traps: Subterranean Press issued a revised, author-approved text (2011), and Penguin Classics reprinted that revised text in the 2015 omnibus with Songs of a Dead Dreamer (foreword by Jeff VanderMeer) — neither is a first edition of the 1991 text.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Grimscribe: His Lives and Works a first edition?

A first edition of Grimscribe: His Lives and Works by Thomas Ligotti (Robinson Publishing, London) is identified by: The Robinson (London, 1991) first edition is an octavo bound in publisher's boards with a pictorial dust jacket, ISBN 1-85487-090-4; L.W.

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). Both 1991 hardcovers are collected, but the UK Robinson Publishing edition has priority: the American issue's own title-page verso states "First published in Great Britain 1991," and Currey records the Robinson book as the first edition.

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

No book-club issue is documented for either 1991 hardcover. The Jove mass-market paperback (October 1994) is a reprint. Two "first thus" traps: Subterranean Press issued a revised, author-approved text (2011), and Penguin Classics reprinted that revised text in the 2015 omnibus with Songs of a Dead Dreamer (foreword by Jeff VanderMeer) — neither is a first edition of the 1991 text.

I have a first edition of Grimscribe: His Lives and Works — 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.