Is My Her Body and Other Parties a First Edition?

The points of issue

• A trade paperback original, published 3 October 2017, ISBN 978-1-55597-788-7; there is no jacket and therefore no jacket point
• Graywolf's house convention governs the copyright page: between the ISBN and the Library of Congress Control Number sits the number line "2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3 1" — evens ascending, then odds descending — set directly above the statement "First Graywolf Printing, 2017"
• Note that because of this unusual line the "1" falls at the END of the sequence, not the beginning; later printings drop the 1, so its presence at the tail of the line is what confirms a first printing
• This layout is corroborated across numerous Graywolf 2017 imprints examined in scanned copies (A Doll for Throwing, Cinder, 300 Arguments, Fen, Afterland, Advice from the Lights, Said Not Said, Happy Baby) and in the 2014 scan of Rankine's Citizen, which reads "2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3 1 / First Graywolf Printing, 2014"
• Cover design by Kimberly Glyder; book design by Connie Kuhnz

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?

The Graywolf Press trade paperback original (Minneapolis, 3 October 2017) is the true first, and the UK publisher's own copyright page concedes the point, reading "First published in the USA in 2017 by Graywolf Press". The census note's claim that there is "no true first hardcover" needs correcting: a hardcover does exist, but it follows rather than precedes. Powell's Books selected the collection as Indiespensable #70, which produced a Graywolf-made hardcover of roughly 2,000 copies in illustrated boards, signed by Machado on a tipped-in Powell's Indiespensable leaf and issued with an interview booklet; the box shipped November/December 2017, i.e. after the 3 October paperback, so it is a special issue and not the first edition. The UK edition is Serpent's Tail (London), ISBN 9781781259528, catalogued by the publisher as a hardback dated 14 December 2017 — but copies themselves state "First published in Great Britain in 2018 by Serpent's Tail" on the copyright page, with number line "1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2" and printed by Clays, St Ives; that 2017/2018 discrepancy between the publisher's catalogue and the book is unresolved and buyers should rely on the copy in hand. A Serpent's Tail B-format paperback (9781781259535) followed 3 January 2019.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition is documented. The reprint tell is the number line: on later Graywolf printings the terminal "1" is dropped from "2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3 1", and the statement is amended from "First Graywolf Printing, 2017". The collection was heavily reprinted after its National Book Award shortlisting, so later printings in identical cover design are common and the copyright page is the only reliable discriminator. The Powell's Indiespensable hardcover and the Serpent's Tail UK hardback are separate issues rather than book clubs, but both are routinely miscatalogued as "first edition" hardcovers.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Her Body and Other Parties a first edition?

A first edition of Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado (Graywolf Press, Minneapolis) is identified by: A trade paperback original, published 3 October 2017, ISBN 978-1-55597-788-7; there is no jacket and therefore no jacket point.

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). The Graywolf Press trade paperback original (Minneapolis, 3 October 2017) is the true first, and the UK publisher's own copyright page concedes the point, reading "First published in the USA in 2017 by Graywolf Press".

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

No book-club edition is documented. The reprint tell is the number line: on later Graywolf printings the terminal "1" is dropped from "2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3 1", and the statement is amended from "First Graywolf Printing, 2017". The collection was heavily reprinted after its National Book Award shortlisting, so later printings in identical cover design are common and the copyright page is the only reliable discriminator. The Powell's Indiespensable hardcover and the Serpent's Tail UK hardback are separ

I have a first edition of Her Body and Other Parties — 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.