Is My Lord of Light a First Edition?

The points of issue

• True first edition: Doubleday & Company, Garden City, New York, 1967, with 'First Edition' stated on the copyright page and no later-printing line
• Collation is [vi] + 257 pages
• Bound in publisher's dark blue cloth with silver lettering on the spine
• The first-issue dust jacket carries the printed cover price on the front flap; a price-clipped example loses that corner but remains the trade first if the copyright-page statement and binding agree
• This is the 1968 Hugo Award winner for best novel and a 1967 Nebula nominee
• A signed copy is one additionally bearing Zelazny's authentic signature; the signing does not itself change the edition, so first confirm the trade-first points, then the autograph

How Doubleday marked a first edition

• Mid-1958–early 1959: numerical gutter code (1–52) on the last page of text indicating the WEEK of printing. Early 1959–1987: added a LETTER code before the week code indicating the YEAR.

Full Doubleday 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 US Doubleday hardcover of 1967 is the true first edition, first printing, identified by 'First Edition' stated on the copyright page, dark blue cloth with silver spine lettering, [vi]+257 pagination, and the priced first-issue jacket.P-037218

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Doubleday issued this title through its book clubs, and a club body is distinguished not by the copyright-page wording (clubs often reproduce the trade page) but by physical tells: a blind-stamped dot or square impressed into the lower rear board, a gutter code stamped at the foot of one of the last text pages, and thinner, cheaper paper and boards; club jackets are unpriced. Use the stated 'First Edition' line together with the absence of any rear-board blindstamp to confirm the trade first over a club edition or later printing.P-037219

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Lord of Light a first edition?

A first edition of Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny (Doubleday) is identified by: True first edition: Doubleday & Company, Garden City, New York, 1967, with 'First Edition' stated on the copyright page and no later-printing line.

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 US Doubleday hardcover of 1967 is the true first edition, first printing, identified by 'First Edition' stated on the copyright page, dark blue cloth with silver spine lettering, [vi]+257 pagination, and the priced first-issue jacket.

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

Doubleday issued this title through its book clubs, and a club body is distinguished not by the copyright-page wording (clubs often reproduce the trade page) but by physical tells: a blind-stamped dot or square impressed into the lower rear board, a gutter code stamped at the foot of one of the last text pages, and thinner, cheaper paper and boards; club jackets are unpriced. Use the stated 'First Edition' line together with the absence of any rear-board blindstamp to confirm the trade first ove

I have a first edition of Lord of Light — 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.