Is My Life and Times of Frederick Douglass a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The true first printing's title page is set in 29 lines ending 'Hartford, Conn.: Park Publishing Co
• 1881,' with no other cities listed below the imprint; a 31-line 1882 second printing adds the distributors Geo
• M. Rewell & Co. of Cleveland, J. S. Goodman & Co. of Chicago, Sun Publishing Co. of St
• Louis, and Phillips & Hunt of San Francisco beneath the Park Publishing Co. line
• First-printing pagination runs [i-iii] iv-xii [xiii-xiv blank] xv-xxiii [xxiv] [1-12 blank] 13-516 [517-18], and its table of contents lacks a chapter summary for Chapter XV that later printings added
• On page 336 the first printing misprints 'disproval' for 'disapproval,' an error not corrected until the third printing, and its copyright page carries only the two-line statement 'Copyrighted by Park Publishing Co., 1881.' The book is bound in dark red calico, blindstamped on the front and back boards with a rule-bordered box of floral and eagle-and-female devices and gold-stamped on the spine 'Life / and / Times of Fred'k Douglass' above 'Illustrated'; a parallel first-edition binding state has the front-cover devices gold-stamped rather than blindstamped, with gilt (rather than plain) trimmed edges

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. 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. 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.
5. 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.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Do not confuse the 1881 first edition (518pp., Park Publishing Co.) with the substantially revised and enlarged edition from De Wolfe, Fiske and Co. of Boston -- copyrighted 1892 but not issued until 1893 -- which expands the book to roughly 752 pages with a new 'Third Part' of thirteen additional chapters bringing the narrative up to date, the final three of which cover Douglass's 1889-91 service as U.S. minister to Haiti; carrying the designation 'New Revised Edition,' the De Wolfe Fiske text is a different, later edition, not a reprint of the 1881 first.P-035772

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Life and Times of Frederick Douglass a first edition?

A first edition of Life and Times of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass (Park Publishing Co.) is identified by: The true first printing's title page is set in 29 lines ending 'Hartford, Conn.: Park Publishing Co.

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.

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

Do not confuse the 1881 first edition (518pp., Park Publishing Co.) with the substantially revised and enlarged edition from De Wolfe, Fiske and Co. of Boston -- copyrighted 1892 but not issued until 1893 -- which expands the book to roughly 752 pages with a new 'Third Part' of thirteen additional chapters bringing the narrative up to date, the final three of which cover Douglass's 1889-91 service as U.S. minister to Haiti; carrying the designation 'New Revised Edition,' the De Wolfe Fiske text

I have a first edition of Life and Times of Frederick Douglass — 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.