Is My Copy of Islands in the Stream a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The first printing carries the Scribner code "A-9.70(V)" on the copyright page, transcribed by some dealers as "A 9.70 V": the leading capital A is Scribner's first-printing letter, 9.70 the month and year, and the bracketed letter the manufacturer
• The "Scribner seal" is not the point here
• From 1930 to 1973 Scribner's marked first printings with a capital A on the copyright page, used sometimes with the seal and sometimes — as in 1970 — with a month/year/manufacturer code instead; look for the A code, not a seal
• Octavo, collating [11],3-466,[2] pages
• Bound in green cloth, spine lettered in gilt, with a facsimile of Hemingway's signature stamped in gilt on the front board; maps printed on the yellow endpapers and pastedowns
• Priced jacket, with the price present at the front flap

How Charles Scribner's Sons marked a first edition

• The famous capital 'A' on the copyright page denotes a first printing. Introduced late 1929 and used 1930-1973.
• Classic form 'A-3.64[H]': A = printing (A=1st, B=2nd...), 3.64 = March 1964 date, [H]=hardcover / [P]=paperback. Presence of leading 'A' = true first.

Full Charles Scribner's Sons 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 UK 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?

The true first is Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1970 — the first of the posthumous novels, published nine years after Hemingway's death, the manuscript having been found among his papers in 1969. The first UK edition is Collins, London, 1970; it is collected as the English first, and a Collins pre-publication sampler is also recorded. The exact Collins month could not be established here, so precedence rests on the trade's settled treatment of the Scribner issue as the first rather than on a dated month-by-month comparison.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

A full-size Scribner book-club printing of 1970 exists and is the standard confusion: it is in the same green cloth with the gilt facsimile signature on the front board, but it lacks the A code on the copyright page and carries a blind-stamped indent on the rear board, and its jacket has no price at the flap. The copyright-page code and the rear board are the two checks. The later Scribner Library paperback issues are plainly stated.P-039092

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Islands in the Stream a first edition?

A first edition of Islands in the Stream by Ernest Hemingway (Charles Scribner's Sons) is identified by: The first printing carries the Scribner code "A-9.70(V)" on the copyright page, transcribed by some dealers as "A 9.70 V": the leading capital A is Scribner's first-printing letter, 9.70 the month and year, and the bracketed letter the manufacturer.

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 true first is Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1970 — the first of the posthumous novels, published nine years after Hemingway's death, the manuscript having been found among his papers in 1969.

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

A full-size Scribner book-club printing of 1970 exists and is the standard confusion: it is in the same green cloth with the gilt facsimile signature on the front board, but it lacks the A code on the copyright page and carries a blind-stamped indent on the rear board, and its jacket has no price at the flap. The copyright-page code and the rear board are the two checks. The later Scribner Library paperback issues are plainly stated.

I have a first edition of Islands in the Stream — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and decode the printing with the free First Edition Checker. Clearing out books? I take them as a free donation and make sure collectible copies are identified, not discarded: free pickup in the Albuquerque metro (scheduled by route), the 24/7 drop box at 5445 Edith Blvd NE, or donor-paid mail-in from anywhere in the US. Questions? Call or text 505-250-3804.

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.