Is My Copy of 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

• Modern Pantheon (Knopf Doubleday / PRH): states 'First Edition' on the copyright page AND uses a descending number line ending in 1.
• A true first has both the 'First Edition' statement and the 1 present; reprints drop 'First Edition' and/or the 1.

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. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and decode the printing with the free First Edition Checker. Clearing out books? I take them as a free donation and make sure collectible copies are identified, not discarded: free pickup in the Albuquerque metro (scheduled by route), the 24/7 drop box at 5445 Edith Blvd NE, or donor-paid mail-in from anywhere in the US. Questions? Call or text 505-250-3804.

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.