Is My In Parenthesis a First Edition?

The points of issue

• True first: Faber & Faber, London, June 1937, the copyright page reading 'First published in June Mcmxxxvii' with no further impression line beneath it
• One of 1,500 copies, printed by Hague & Gill (Eric Gill's firm)
• Original buff/oatmeal cloth, the spine with a black label bordered and lettered in gilt, top edge stained grey to match the jacket; grey typographic dust jacket printed in red and black, notoriously fragile and usually price-clipped (an unclipped jacket with the price present at the flap is the preferred state)
• Illustrated with a frontispiece and a second lithograph after the author's drawings (facing p
• 226) and a map (facing p

How Faber & Faber, London marked a first edition

• First printings state "First published in [Year]" (often "First published in mcmxxxx") on the copyright/verso page, with no list of later impressions
• Prior to 1968 the year was set in ROMAN NUMERALS (e.g. 'First published in mcmliv'); from 1968 onward Arabic numerals were used — a key dating tell

Full Faber & Faber, London first-edition guide →

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. 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.
3. Verify this is the UK true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
4. 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.
5. 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?

UK is the sole first — Faber & Faber, London, 1937. No American edition appeared for twenty-four years; Chilmark Press, New York, 1961 (xv, 224 pp) is the first American edition. Precedence trap to note: T. S. Eliot championed the book inside Faber, but his 'A Note of Introduction' was written for the 1961 reissue and is NOT in the 1937 first. Any copy containing Eliot's note is a 1961-or-later text, not the first edition — the census claim that the 1937 first carries Eliot's endorsement is incorrect.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition is documented. The common traps are the stated later impressions: second impression, July 1937, and third impression, 1938, each added to the copyright page beneath the June 1937 line. The 1961 Faber reissue and the 1961 Chilmark American edition are 'first thus' (Eliot's Note of Introduction added).

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of In Parenthesis a first edition?

A first edition of In Parenthesis by David Jones (Faber & Faber, London) is identified by: True first: Faber & Faber, London, June 1937, the copyright page reading 'First published in June Mcmxxxvii' with no further impression line beneath it.

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. UK is the sole first — Faber & Faber, London, 1937.

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

No book-club edition is documented. The common traps are the stated later impressions: second impression, July 1937, and third impression, 1938, each added to the copyright page beneath the June 1937 line. The 1961 Faber reissue and the 1961 Chilmark American edition are 'first thus' (Eliot's Note of Introduction added).

I have a first edition of In Parenthesis — 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.