Is My Here and Now a First Edition?

The points of issue

• City Lights Books, San Francisco, dated 1957, issued as Number Six in Lawrence Ferlinghetti's Pocket Poets Series — two numbers after Ginsberg's Howl and Other Poems
• Stapled printed wrappers: green paper wrappers with a white paper wraparound label onlaid to the front cover, printed in matching green
• 12mo, 32 pages
• The first printing was limited to 500 copies, letterpress-printed in England at the press of Villiers Publications, Holloway, London, in January 1957 for City Lights in San Francisco
• The book is catalogued as Cook 6 in Ralph T. Cook's descriptive bibliography of City Lights Books (No
• 7-8), and a first printing must answer all points there

How City Lights Books marked a first edition

• Later titles: copyright page either states 'First Edition' or simply shows no later-printing notice; modern titles add a descending number line (1 present = first).

Full City Lights Books 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. 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 first, and Levertov's American debut — but NOT her first book, and this is the trap. Her true first book is The Double Image, published under the name 'Denise Levertoff' by The Cresset Press, London, 1946 — a UK-only publication with no contemporaneous American edition. Here and Now (City Lights, San Francisco, 1957) is the true first of this title and has no British counterpart. Both books are collected, and a collector seeking Levertov's first book wants the 1946 Cresset Press Double Image, not Here and Now. The census claim is confirmed on both points.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition documented — Pocket Poets titles were not club-issued. The reprint trap is City Lights' own second and third printings, which continued in the same series format and are frequently offered as firsts; they are distinguished by the Cook 6 points, chiefly the wrapper-label configuration and the rear-wrapper price setting. Only the initial 500-copy London letterpress printing is the first.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Here and Now a first edition?

A first edition of Here and Now by Denise Levertov (City Lights Books) is identified by: City Lights Books, San Francisco, dated 1957, issued as Number Six in Lawrence Ferlinghetti's Pocket Poets Series — two numbers after Ginsberg's Howl and Other Poems.

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 first, and Levertov's American debut — but NOT her first book, and this is the trap.

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

No book-club edition documented — Pocket Poets titles were not club-issued. The reprint trap is City Lights' own second and third printings, which continued in the same series format and are frequently offered as firsts; they are distinguished by the Cook 6 points, chiefly the wrapper-label configuration and the rear-wrapper price setting. Only the initial 500-copy London letterpress printing is the first.

I have a first edition of Here and Now — 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.