Is My Lost Souls a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First printing is the Delacorte Press (New York) 1992 hardcover, 359 pages, ISBN 0-385-30875-2, and is identified by the complete number line running down to 1 on the copyright page
• The binding is distinctive and serves as a corroborating check: quarter black cloth over red boards (commonly described by dealers as a black spine with red boards)
• The book should be in its priced jacket with the price present at the front flap — an unclipped flap is the wanted state
• Catalog control numbers for cross-checking a suspect copy: LCCN 92000506, OCLC 25869401
• This was the author's first novel and the first hardcover published under Dell's Abyss imprint

How Delacorte Press / Abyss, New York marked a first edition

• "First printing" or "First Edition" stated on the copyright page, frequently paired with a number line ending in 1
• Vonnegut-era Delacorte / Seymour Lawrence books: look for an explicit "First printing" statement on the copyright page (e.g. Slaughterhouse-Five is a stated first printing)

Full Delacorte Press / Abyss, New York 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. 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.
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?

US Delacorte Press, New York, 1992 is the unambiguous true first — there is no competing same-year UK edition. The census note that 'UK Penguin followed' is directionally correct but should be stated precisely: the Penguin UK appearance was a 1994 paperback (ISBN 0-14-017392-7), and a Dell US mass-market paperback intervened in 1993. Neither is a first edition, and neither competes with the Delacorte hardcover for precedence.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition documented in the sources consulted for this title. Reprint tells: an incomplete number line (one not reaching 1) marks a later printing; the 1993 Dell US mass-market and the 1994 Penguin UK paperback are reprints, not firsts, as are the later Penguin reissues (e.g. ISBN 978-0-14-104893-2). Any softcover is by definition not the first edition of this title.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Lost Souls a first edition?

A first edition of Lost Souls by Poppy Z. Brite (Delacorte Press / Abyss, New York) is identified by: First printing is the Delacorte Press (New York) 1992 hardcover, 359 pages, ISBN 0-385-30875-2, and is identified by the complete number line running down to 1 on the copyright page.

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). US Delacorte Press, New York, 1992 is the unambiguous true first — there is no competing same-year UK edition.

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

No book-club edition documented in the sources consulted for this title. Reprint tells: an incomplete number line (one not reaching 1) marks a later printing; the 1993 Dell US mass-market and the 1994 Penguin UK paperback are reprints, not firsts, as are the later Penguin reissues (e.g. ISBN 978-0-14-104893-2). Any softcover is by definition not the first edition of this title.

I have a first edition of Lost Souls — 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.