Is My Life: A User's Manual a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The true first is La Vie mode d'emploi, Hachette, Paris, 1978, in the collection edited by Paul Otchakovsky-Laurens (P.O.L); listings cite the publisher variously as 'Hachette', 'Hachette/P.O.L' or 'P.O.L', all describing the same 1978 Paris issue
• The governing point is the achevé d'imprimer: the first printing on ordinary paper carries the date 25 August 1978, and dealers specify 'le bon achevé d'imprimer' of 25 August 1978 to separate it from later printings dated 10 October 1978 and after
• Collation is one volume of 699 pages, broché (wrappers), roughly 14 x 20.5 cm; the book was published in September 1978 and took the Prix Médicis in November 1978
• A copy whose achevé d'imprimer reads October 1978 or later is a subsequent printing regardless of the 1978 date on the title page — this is the single check that matters for this title

How Hachette marked a first edition

• Hyperion-era (Disney-owned, pre-2013): used 'First Edition' + number line; sometimes 'First U.S. Edition' for imports.

Full Hachette 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 US 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 French original (Hachette / collection P.O.L, Paris, 1978) is the true first, and the census is correct on the imprint. Watch a pre-publication trap the census does not mention: Hachette/P.O.L issued a 32-page stapled excerpt in printed wrappers — 'Chambres de bonne, 10', drawn from chapter 55 — dated 2 May 1978, ahead of the September book. It is an advance excerpt, not the first edition, yet the 2 May 1978 date attached to it circulates in catalogue data as though it were the novel's publication date. The first English edition is David Bellos's translation, published in 1987 by David R. Godine (Boston) and by Collins Harvill (London) in the same year. The census claim that the US 'generally precedes' is NOT confirmed: both are 1987 and no source consulted established the order. Both English issues are collected.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue is documented for the 1978 French first. Dealer cataloguing records a small hors-commerce printing on vergé blanc d'Arches outside the ordinary printing, but the copy count was not corroborated across sources; the ordinary-paper first printing remains defined by the 25 August 1978 achevé d'imprimer. Later French printings (10 October 1978 onward), the Harvill Panther paperback, and the Godine reissues are reprints — in English the 1987 sheets are the ones to seek.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Life: A User's Manual a first edition?

A first edition of Life: A User's Manual by Georges Perec (Hachette) is identified by: The true first is La Vie mode d'emploi, Hachette, Paris, 1978, in the collection edited by Paul Otchakovsky-Laurens (P.O.L); listings cite the publisher variously as 'Hachette', 'Hachette/P.O.L' or 'P.O.L', all describing the same 1978 Paris issue.

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 French original (Hachette / collection P.O.L, Paris, 1978) is the true first, and the census is correct on the imprint.

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

No book-club issue is documented for the 1978 French first. Dealer cataloguing records a small hors-commerce printing on vergé blanc d'Arches outside the ordinary printing, but the copy count was not corroborated across sources; the ordinary-paper first printing remains defined by the 25 August 1978 achevé d'imprimer. Later French printings (10 October 1978 onward), the Harvill Panther paperback, and the Godine reissues are reprints — in English the 1987 sheets are the ones to seek.

I have a first edition of Life: A User's Manual — 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.