Is My Maus I: A Survivor's Tale — My Father Bleeds History a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Paperback original issued first; the trade hardcover came later
• The copyright page must state 'First Edition', with the verso ending 'Manufactured in the U.S.A. // First Edition.' The genuine 1986 issue stands alone as 'Maus: A Survivor's Tale' without a 'Volume I' designation keyed to a second volume
• Photographs and mouse-headed figures on the cover; original price to the flap

How Pantheon Books marked a first edition

• A true first has both the 'First Edition' statement and the 1 present; reprints drop 'First Edition' and/or the 1.
• Earlier Pantheon (pre-RH, founded 1942): identification by absence of additional printings and by stated 'First Edition' / 'First Printing' where present.

Full Pantheon Books 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 indicia — a first-printing single issue carries no later-printing line; a collected edition is “first thus,” not the true first.
4. Verify this is the US true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
5. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

Format & printing

This title first appeared as a single issue / periodical, not a trade book. The true first is the first-printing single issue; later trade paperbacks or hardcover collections are “first thus.” Check the indicia (the small-print publication block) for a printing statement.

Is this the true first?

US is the true first (Spiegelman is American; written and published in English). The genuine 1986 first collects only the first six chapters. After Maus II appeared in 1991, Pantheon reissued Vol. I labeled 'Volume I' / 'My Father Bleeds History' WITHOUT changing the copyright-page date; that reissue is routinely misrepresented as the 1986 first. Distinguish by the absence of the volume designation and by the softcover-original format.P-002256

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No traditional book-club edition; the confusion is the later 'Volume I' reissue (added volume subtitle, often a barcode and revised back panel) and 'The Complete Maus' (1996, single hardcover) — both later than the 1986 first. Look for the standalone title and the stated 'First Edition.'P-002257

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Maus I: A Survivor's Tale — My Father Bleeds History a first edition?

A first edition of Maus I: A Survivor's Tale — My Father Bleeds History by Art Spiegelman (Pantheon Books) is identified by: Paperback original issued first; the trade hardcover came later.

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

Check the copyright page. For a single issue, the indicia shows the printing. US is the true first (Spiegelman is American; written and published in English).

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

No traditional book-club edition; the confusion is the later 'Volume I' reissue (added volume subtitle, often a barcode and revised back panel) and 'The Complete Maus' (1996, single hardcover) — both later than the 1986 first. Look for the standalone title and the stated 'First Edition.'

I have a first edition of Maus I: A Survivor's Tale — My Father Bleeds History — 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.