Is My Invisible Cities (Le città invisibili) a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First US edition and first English-language edition
• Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York, 1974, translated by William Weaver and issued as a Helen and Kurt Wolff Book
• The copyright page credits the Italian original 1972 and this translation 1974, with no statement of a later printing
• Bound in quarter grey buckram with black paper over the boards
• 165 pages
• First-issue dust jacket designed by Arnold Skolnick: a distinctive fragile silver foil jacket that creases very easily, so clean examples are uncommon; the jacket should retain its printed price and be neither price-clipped nor remainder-marked

How Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York marked a first edition

• 1973-1983 (HBJ): used a letter code 'BCDE...' (no leading A) plus 'First Edition'.

Full Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 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. 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 US 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?

The world first is the Italian 'Le città invisibili' (Einaudi, Turin, 1972). The 1974 Harcourt US edition is the first edition in English (Weaver translation), preceding the UK Secker & Warburg edition issued later in 1974.P-012354

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No true book-club edition is a concern here; later Harcourt and Vintage paperbacks carry full number lines and ISBNs and are reprints, not the first edition.P-012355

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Invisible Cities (Le città invisibili) a first edition?

A first edition of Invisible Cities (Le città invisibili) by Italo Calvino (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York) is identified by: First US edition and first English-language edition; Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York, 1974, translated by William Weaver and issued as a Helen and Kurt Wolff Book.

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. The world first is the Italian 'Le città invisibili' (Einaudi, Turin, 1972).

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

No true book-club edition is a concern here; later Harcourt and Vintage paperbacks carry full number lines and ISBNs and are reprints, not the first edition.

I have a first edition of Invisible Cities (Le città invisibili) — 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.