Is My Le Rouge et le Noir a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Two volumes in-8, A. Levavasseur, Paris; approx
• 125 x 195 mm
• The title pages are dated 1831 although the volumes were published on 13 November 1830 — the routine practice of post-dating a book issued in the last weeks of a year to the year following
• Printed in 750 copies, all on ordinary edition (laid) paper: there is no large-paper or deluxe issue, so the paper carries no point
• Title vignettes drawn by Henry Monnier
• Clouzot records the original as very rare

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 inverts the dating and is corrected here. It states the book was 'issued November 1830 (some titles dated 1831)', implying 1830-dated title pages are the norm and 1831 the exception. The reverse is the case: the title pages of the original edition are dated 1831 across the board, and 13 November 1830 is the publication date. No 1830-dated title page is documented in the sources consulted; a copy offered as 'dated 1830' should be treated as a red flag. The French first is the only edition with precedence — the census is right on that count, though its 'no significant English translation until 1900' is approximate: sources consulted give circa 1898 to circa 1900 and conflict on the exact year and translator, so the date is left unresolved here rather than asserted. C. K. Scott Moncrieff's 1926 The Red and the Black is the best-known English version but is 'first thus' only.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue applies to an 1830-31 Paris imprint. Because there is no deluxe paper issue and the whole printing is a single state on laid paper, the identification rests on the Levavasseur imprint, the two-volume in-8 format, the 1831 title-page date and the Monnier vignettes. No first-state text errors are documented in the sources consulted.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Le Rouge et le Noir a first edition?

A first edition of Le Rouge et le Noir by Stendhal (Marie-Henri Beyle) (A. Levavasseur, Paris) is identified by: Levavasseur, Paris; 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 inverts the dating and is corrected here.

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

No book-club issue applies to an 1830-31 Paris imprint. Because there is no deluxe paper issue and the whole printing is a single state on laid paper, the identification rests on the Levavasseur imprint, the two-volume in-8 format, the 1831 title-page date and the Monnier vignettes. No first-state text errors are documented in the sources consulted.

I have a first edition of Le Rouge et le Noir — 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.