Is My Le Père Goriot a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Two volumes in-8, 'Librairie de Werdet, Spachmann, éditeur', Paris, 1835; approx
• 194 x 121 mm; issued in printed wrappers; registered in the Bibliographie de la France on 14 March 1835
• Volumes collate 354 and 376 pp (some catalogues cite 360 and 380, counting preliminaries)
• Print run 1,200 copies
• The decisive point of issue is the preface: it was not ready when the volumes went out, and the 1,200 copies were distributed without it
• Dated 'Paris, mars 1835', the preface first appeared in the Revue de Paris installment of Sunday 8 March 1835 and was printed for the book as a separate opening gathering afterwards

How to confirm the first-printing statement

Publishers stated first printings differently by era. The decisive tells are a printed “First Edition/First Printing” statement, a number line whose lowest number is 1 (Random House ends at 2), or a dated first printing with no later printings listed. Paste your copyright page into the number-line decoder.

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. 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.
4. 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 census claim needs correcting on the imprint: it is not 'Werdet, Paris' alone but a co-edition, 'Werdet, Spachmann' — Jakob-Friedrich Spachmann, a binder of Württemberg origin established in the rue Coquenard and Balzac's own regular binder, co-financed the book and appears on the title. Serialisation in the Revue de Paris in four installments (14 and 28 December 1834, 18 January and 1 February 1835) preceded the volumes, but periodical appearance does not carry book precedence. The French first is the only edition with precedence; no contemporary English edition competes. Later authorial texts are 'first thus' only: the 1839 Charpentier edition suppressed prefaces, and the text was revised again for the Furne Comédie humaine.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue applies to an 1835 Paris imprint. The practical tells are later French reissues under the Charpentier imprint (1839 onward) and the Furne Comédie humaine text, neither carrying the Werdet/Spachmann title. Copies wanting the preface gathering are common and are not, on that ground, reprints.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Le Père Goriot a first edition?

A first edition of Le Père Goriot by Honoré de Balzac (Werdet et Spachmann) is identified by: Two volumes in-8, 'Librairie de Werdet, Spachmann, éditeur', Paris, 1835; approx.

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 census claim needs correcting on the imprint: it is not 'Werdet, Paris' alone but a co-edition, 'Werdet, Spachmann' — Jakob-Friedrich Spachmann, a binder of Württemberg origin established in the rue Coquenard and Balzac's own regular binder, co-financed the book and appears on the title.

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

No book-club issue applies to an 1835 Paris imprint. The practical tells are later French reissues under the Charpentier imprint (1839 onward) and the Furne Comédie humaine text, neither carrying the Werdet/Spachmann title. Copies wanting the preface gathering are common and are not, on that ground, reprints.

I have a first edition of Le Père Goriot — 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.