Is My Intermezzo a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The Faber & Faber UK first is a hardcover in one-piece grey paper over boards with black spine lettering, issued in a jacket with raised lettering
• Faber house practice — corroborated by both the ILAB and Quill & Brush (qbbooks) publisher guides — is a "First published in [year] by Faber & Faber Limited" statement on the copyright page with subsequent impressions noted; where a number row is present, the lowest number governs, so a line containing 1 marks the first printing
• Dealer descriptions of the Faber issue consistently confirm "first edition, first printing" by the full number line beginning with 1
• The Farrar, Straus and Giroux US issue (ISBN 9780374602635, 464 pp.) states "First American edition, 2024" with a full number line, consistent with the FSG practice recorded in both guides of stating "First published / First printing / First edition (Year)" on the copyright page
• Refer to jacket price only as priced jacket / price present at the flap; an unclipped flap is the desirable state

How Faber & Faber marked a first edition

• 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 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 American 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?

Faber & Faber, London and Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York both published on 24 September 2024 — simultaneous, with no documented priority. Both are collected and both should be named. Faber is the author's home publisher and is the issue conventionally preferred as the first; the FSG issue is the American first and is correctly described as "first American edition," not as a reprint. Trap: Faber's own "International Edition" (ISBN 9780571365470) is a separate export issue, not the UK first.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue is documented. The heavy trap on this title is bookseller-exclusive states issued at or near publication, all of which are first-thus or variant rather than the plain first: the Kenny's signed and numbered limitation of 1,000 copies (numbered to a limitation page); copies with sprayed or blackened edges; copies with chess-board endpapers; the state carrying the bonus short story "Colour and Light"; and publication-day event covers stamped or illustrated by commissioned artists. Signed copies occur both with a bound-in signature leaf and with a loosely tipped-in publisher's bookplate — distinguish the two. Later Faber impressions are identified by numbers removed from the number row.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Intermezzo a first edition?

A first edition of Intermezzo by Sally Rooney (Faber & Faber) is identified by: The Faber & Faber UK first is a hardcover in one-piece grey paper over boards with black spine lettering, issued in a jacket with raised lettering.

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). Faber & Faber, London and Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York both published on 24 September 2024 — simultaneous, with no documented priority.

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

No book-club issue is documented. The heavy trap on this title is bookseller-exclusive states issued at or near publication, all of which are first-thus or variant rather than the plain first: the Kenny's signed and numbered limitation of 1,000 copies (numbered to a limitation page); copies with sprayed or blackened edges; copies with chess-board endpapers; the state carrying the bonus short story "Colour and Light"; and publication-day event covers stamped or illustrated by commissioned artists

I have a first edition of Intermezzo — 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.