Is My Lolita (adaptation of Nabokov) a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First and only free-standing script publication: the Dramatists Play Service acting edition in printed wrappers, New York, 1998, roughly 72 pages, issued as a saddle-stitched/perfect-bound softcover in the house DPS format rather than as a trade hardcover
• As with all DPS acting editions it carries no number line; identification rests on the DPS imprint and 1998 date on the title and copyright pages
• The credit line reads that the play was adapted by Edward Albee from the novel by Vladimir Nabokov

How Dramatists Play Service marked a first edition

• 1936–present (acting-edition model): founded in 1936 by members of the Dramatists Guild. Publishes inexpensive paperbound acting editions intended for licensing, not collectible trade firsts. These are typically reset an…

Full Dramatists Play Service first-edition guide →

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Read the number line — the lowest number is the printing. A line including 1 is a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2). Paste it into the decoder.
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 only script publications are the Dramatists Play Service acting edition of 1998 (the true first appearance of the text in print) and a later gathering in The Collected Plays of Edward Albee, Volume Three (Overlook Duckworth, 2005). There is no trade hardcover first. Note that the 1981 Brooks Atkinson Theatre Broadway production used a heavily altered text that Albee disowned as not his adaptation, so the 1998 DPS printing is the first publication of Albee's own intended text.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book club edition; acting editions of this kind were never offered through book clubs.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Lolita (adaptation of Nabokov) a first edition?

A first edition of Lolita (adaptation of Nabokov) by Edward Albee (Dramatists Play Service) is identified by: First and only free-standing script publication: the Dramatists Play Service acting edition in printed wrappers, New York, 1998, roughly 72 pages, issued as a saddle-stitched/perfect-bound softcover in the house DPS format rather than as a trade hardcover.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A number line whose lowest number is 1 marks a first printing (Random House ends at 2). The only script publications are the Dramatists Play Service acting edition of 1998 (the true first appearance of the text in print) and a later gathering in The Collected Plays of Edward Albee, Volume Three (Overlook Duckworth, 2005).

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

No book club edition; acting editions of this kind were never offered through book clubs.

I have a first edition of Lolita (adaptation of Nabokov) — what should I do?

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 lost. To sell, see the author’s collecting guide. Either way, nothing collectible ends up in a landfill.

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.