Is My House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City) a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Bloomsbury Publishing, New York, published 3 March 2020, hardcover in jacket, ISBN 978-1-63557-404-3, approx
• 803 pp., jacket art by Carlos Quevedo carrying the crescent-moon sigil, with illustrated endpapers
• The first printing is identified by the full number line 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 on the copyright page; dealers separate it on that alone, and a copy whose line no longer begins with 1 is a later impression of the same 2020 edition
• Copies of the US issue are additionally recorded with a stated 'First published in the United States 2020' on the copyright page alongside the complete number line
• The simultaneous UK issue — Bloomsbury, London, ISBN 978-1-4088-8441-6 — is also a hardback and is identified as a first UK edition by its own first-impression statement and number line; the two are separate firsts and should be catalogued as such

How Bloomsbury Publishing, New York marked a first edition

• First printings carry a full descending number line "10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1" on the copyright page; the lowest number (1) present = first printing

Full Bloomsbury Publishing, New York 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?

Census claim confirmed on date and publisher, refuted on the sprayed-edges point. Both the US issue (Bloomsbury Publishing, New York) and the UK issue (Bloomsbury, London) were published 3 March 2020 as hardbacks, so each is a first edition of its own territory and both are collected; the US issue is the one normally cited as 'the' first. The census's 'first printings with sprayed edges collected' is wrong and must not ship — see the reprint note; sprayed edges do not appear on the 2020 trade first in any form.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition is documented. The traps, in order of how often they mislead: (a) subscription-box and retailer-exclusive editions — the Fairyloot Crescent City exclusives, with redesigned jackets, foiled boards with character art, illustrated endpapers, foil-detailed slipcase and digitally sprayed fore-edges, did not ship until roughly March–April 2023, three years after publication, and the Illumicrate and other exclusives are likewise later; sprayed edges are therefore positive evidence AGAINST a 2020 first printing. (b) The Bloomsbury paperback of 2021. (c) Later adult-market reissues under fresh ISBNs (e.g. 978-1-5266-6355-9). (d) Ordinary later 2020 impressions, identical but for the missing 1 on the number line.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City) a first edition?

A first edition of House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City) by Sarah J. Maas (Bloomsbury Publishing, New York) is identified by: Bloomsbury Publishing, New York, published 3 March 2020, hardcover in jacket, ISBN 978-1-63557-404-3, approx.

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). Census claim confirmed on date and publisher, refuted on the sprayed-edges point.

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

No book-club edition is documented. The traps, in order of how often they mislead: (a) subscription-box and retailer-exclusive editions — the Fairyloot Crescent City exclusives, with redesigned jackets, foiled boards with character art, illustrated endpapers, foil-detailed slipcase and digitally sprayed fore-edges, did not ship until roughly March–April 2023, three years after publication, and the Illumicrate and other exclusives are likewise later; sprayed edges are therefore positive evidence

I have a first edition of House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City) — 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.