Is My Laura a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Houghton Mifflin placed the date in Arabic numerals on the title page of first printings and removed it on reprints, so the date '1943' printed on the title page is the essential first-printing point for this title
• The first edition runs 237 pages, and the first-issue dust jacket is priced, with the price present at the flap
• Dealer catalogs describe the binding cloth inconsistently (blue cloth lettered in red is most often cited), so identification should rest on the title-page date rather than the binding

How Houghton Mifflin marked a first edition

• Merger-lineage window (Hurd & Houghton 1864 → Houghton, Osgood & Co. 1878–1880 → Houghton, Mifflin & Co. from 1880): still no 'First Edition' wording; identify by title-page date matching the copyright date, by the earli…
• Late-19th to mid-20th century (c.1880s–1950s): the operative tell is the title page. Houghton Mifflin almost invariably printed the year of first publication, in Arabic numerals, on the title page of a first printing and…

Full Houghton Mifflin 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 Houghton Mifflin (Boston, 1943) edition is the true first in book form (the story had been serialized in Collier's in 1942). Eyre and Spottiswoode published the first UK edition in London in 1944, in blue cloth with a Bip Pares-designed jacket; both editions are collected, with the American edition holding precedence.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

A contemporary book-club printing dated 1943 exists and is frequently offered as a first; require the '1943' title-page date together with a priced jacket before calling a copy a first printing.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Laura a first edition?

A first edition of Laura by Vera Caspary (Houghton Mifflin) is identified by: Houghton Mifflin placed the date in Arabic numerals on the title page of first printings and removed it on reprints, so the date '1943' printed on the title page is the essential first-printing point for this title.

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 Houghton Mifflin (Boston, 1943) edition is the true first in book form (the story had been serialized in Collier's in 1942).

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

A contemporary book-club printing dated 1943 exists and is frequently offered as a first; require the '1943' title-page date together with a priced jacket before calling a copy a first printing.

I have a first edition of Laura — 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.