Is My Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First US edition, first printing: full number line '1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0' on the copyright page
• Original dust jacket with the printed price
• Subtitle on the US first is 'The Fates of Human Societies.'

How W. W. Norton marked a first edition

• Early/statement-only era (1923 to roughly the late 1950s–early 1960s): a first printing carries the words 'First Edition' on the copyright page, and Norton simply DROPPED that line on later printings — there was no print…
• Number-line adoption (sometime in the 1960s — the guides do not pin an exact year, and it roughly coincides with the employee-ownership transition): Norton added a printing key/number row to the copyright page. From this…

Full W. W. Norton 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?

US Norton 1997 is the true first. The UK edition (Jonathan Cape, 1997) bears the variant title 'Guns, Germs and Steel: A Short History of Everybody for the Last 13,000 Years' — a true first in its own market with a different subtitle. Won the 1998 Pulitzer; post-Pulitzer printings are far more common than the first.P-014053

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Book club editions lack the full number line ending in low digits, are on thinner paper, often smaller, and carry an unpriced or clipped jacket with a BCE blind stamp.P-014054

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies a first edition?

A first edition of Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond (W. W. Norton) is identified by: First US edition, first printing: full number line '1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0' on the copyright page.

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). US Norton 1997 is the true first.

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

Book club editions lack the full number line ending in low digits, are on thinner paper, often smaller, and carry an unpriced or clipped jacket with a BCE blind stamp.

I have a first edition of Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies — 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.