Is My Mensagem a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The true first is Lisbon, Parceria António Maria Pereira, 1934: octavo (approximately 19.3 x 13.3 cm), collating 100, [2] pp., issued in the publisher's plain yellow printed wrappers, and containing the 44 poems
• The Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal's copy (shelfmark RES-4431-P) collates 100, [2] pp. and confirms the Parceria A. M. Pereira imprint
• The production point is the colophon: the sheets were composed and printed in the Editorial Império workshops in October 1934, and the book was issued at the beginning of December 1934 — an authorial presentation inscription dated 8-XII-1934 is recorded on a surviving copy
• Standard references cited by specialist dealers are Stoddard 5, Blanco PO 127, and Rui de Sousa (photobibliography) 176
• A print run of about 600 copies is reported by Portuguese secondary sources but is not independently corroborated here and should not be relied on as a point

How to confirm the first-printing statement

Publishers stated first printings differently by era. The decisive tells are a printed “First Edition/First Printing” statement, a number line whose lowest number is 1 (Random House ends at 2), or a dated first printing with no later printings listed. Paste your copyright page into the number-line decoder.

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. 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.
3. Verify this is the UK true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
4. 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.
5. 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?

Portuguese is the original language and the Lisbon 1934 Parceria edition is the true and only first — this is the sole full-length Portuguese book Pessoa published in his lifetime, and it took the Antero de Quental prize in the year of issue. There is no UK or US edition of the period and therefore no precedence contest; English versions under the title 'Message' are much later translations. Only the Lisbon 1934 sheets are collected as the first.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition is documented. The traps are later Portuguese trade editions under other imprints and modern collector/facsimile reissues (e.g. the Livraria Lello collector's edition), all of which are 'first thus' only. Identification rests on the Parceria António Maria Pereira title-page imprint together with the Editorial Império October 1934 printing statement; copies rebound in morocco frequently preserve the original yellow wrappers bound in, which is a binder's practice and not an issue point.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Mensagem a first edition?

A first edition of Mensagem by Fernando Pessoa (Parceria António Maria Pereira, Lisbon) is identified by: The true first is Lisbon, Parceria António Maria Pereira, 1934: octavo (approximately 19.3 x 13.3 cm), collating 100, [2] pp., issued in the publisher's plain yellow printed wrappers, and containing the 44 poems.

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. Portuguese is the original language and the Lisbon 1934 Parceria edition is the true and only first — this is the sole full-length Portuguese book Pessoa published in his lifetime, and it took the Antero de Quental prize in the year of issue.

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

No book-club edition is documented. The traps are later Portuguese trade editions under other imprints and modern collector/facsimile reissues (e.g. the Livraria Lello collector's edition), all of which are 'first thus' only. Identification rests on the Parceria António Maria Pereira title-page imprint together with the Editorial Império October 1934 printing statement; copies rebound in morocco frequently preserve the original yellow wrappers bound in, which is a binder's practice and not an is

I have a first edition of Mensagem — 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.