Is My Kiss Kiss a First Edition?

The points of issue

• For the UK Michael Joseph issue: publisher's green cloth with gilt lettering to the spine, pale yellow endpapers, and the top edge stained red; the dust jacket was designed by Charles E. Skaggs and carries its original printed price to the front flap
• The copyright page follows Michael Joseph's standard single-statement practice ('Published in Great Britain' with the date and no later dates or printing statements)
• For the US Knopf issue: the copyright page carries a 'First Edition' statement with the title page also dated, in a first-issue jacket bearing the original printed flap price
• Adult short stories

How Alfred A. Knopf marked a first edition

• 1915–c.1933 (no stated-edition era): first printings carry NO first-edition notation at all. Identify by EXCLUSION — a genuine first has none of the later-printing legends ('Second Printing,' 'Third Printing,' etc.) that…
• c.1933/1934 onward (stated 'First Edition' era — the core rule): Knopf began consistently printing 'FIRST EDITION' on the copyright page of first printings, or 'FIRST AMERICAN EDITION' when the book had already appeared…

Full Alfred A. Knopf 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 indicia — a first-printing single issue carries no later-printing line; a collected edition is “first thus,” not the true first.
4. Verify this is the UK true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
5. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

Format & printing

This title first appeared as a single issue / periodical, not a trade book. The true first is the first-printing single issue; later trade paperbacks or hardcover collections are “first thus.” Check the indicia (the small-print publication block) for a printing statement.

Is this the true first?

Precedence is genuinely close and debated. The UK Michael Joseph edition and the US Knopf edition both appear in 1960, and at least one dealer dates the Knopf issue 1959, which would make it the chronological first. Many collectors treat the Michael Joseph UK issue as the true first, while others hold Knopf earliest; confirm the dated copyright page and stated 'First Edition' (Knopf) or the single 'Published in Great Britain' statement (Michael Joseph).P-026574

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Book-club editions lack the publisher's 'First Edition' statement and the printed flap price, and are typically on thinner boards.P-026575

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Kiss Kiss a first edition?

A first edition of Kiss Kiss by Roald Dahl (Alfred A. Knopf) is identified by: For the UK Michael Joseph issue: publisher's green cloth with gilt lettering to the spine, pale yellow endpapers, and the top edge stained red; the dust jacket was designed by Charles E.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. For a single issue, the indicia shows the printing. Precedence is genuinely close and debated.

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

Book-club editions lack the publisher's 'First Edition' statement and the printed flap price, and are typically on thinner boards.

I have a first edition of Kiss Kiss — 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.