Is My Mexican Gothic a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The first printing is the Del Rey (Random House / Penguin Random House, New York) hardcover, published 30 June 2020, ISBN 0525620788 / 9780525620785, 301–320 pp. depending on how the record counts
• Identification is by the copyright page: a stated first edition together with a complete number line running to 1 — dealers catalogue firsts as "First Edition/First Printing with the complete number line" and "First American edition, first printing." The jacket should be a priced jacket with the price present at the flap and unclipped
• The specific digits of the Del Rey number line are not documented in the sources consulted and are not asserted here; check that the line runs to 1
• No first-state text error or binding variant is documented for the Del Rey issue

How Del Rey, New York marked a first edition

• Number line on copyright page; first printing has the '1' present. Modern PRH-era Ballantine uses the full descending line '9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1' with no edition statement, OR with 'First Edition' stated.

Full Del Rey, 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 Canadian 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 census claim is CONFIRMED on the essentials. The book was written in English by a Mexican-Canadian author, so there is no original-language precedence question. Penguin Random House's own imprint record dates the Del Rey (US/Canada) hardcover to 30 June 2020, and the UK issue from Jo Fletcher Books (London — an imprint of Quercus, Hachette UK), ISBN 1529402654 / 9781529402650, is dated to the same day, 30 June 2020, making the two effectively simultaneous. Both are collected; the Del Rey is the first American edition and the Jo Fletcher the first UK. Caveat: the same-day UK date rests on a single source and is not independently corroborated here, so treat strict simultaneity as probable rather than settled.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue is documented. Reprint tell is a number line no longer running to 1. Several "first thus" traps exist and are commonly mis-offered as firsts: the Del Rey trade paperback (15 June 2021, 334 pp., cover art by Tim Green); the Subterranean Press signed/limited issue (2022, one of 500, wraparound cover art and illustrated endpapers); the Goldsboro Books signed and numbered issue of the Jo Fletcher UK edition (one of 250, with red sprayed edges — a genuine UK variant but a special issue, not the trade first); and the Jo Fletcher EXPORT issue (ISBN 9781529402674). The Del Rey Advance Reader's Edition / uncorrected proof in illustrated wraps precedes publication but is a proof, not the first edition.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Mexican Gothic a first edition?

A first edition of Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Del Rey, New York) is identified by: The first printing is the Del Rey (Random House / Penguin Random House, New York) hardcover, published 30 June 2020, ISBN 0525620788 / 9780525620785, 301–320 pp.

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). The census claim is CONFIRMED on the essentials.

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

No book-club issue is documented. Reprint tell is a number line no longer running to 1. Several "first thus" traps exist and are commonly mis-offered as firsts: the Del Rey trade paperback (15 June 2021, 334 pp., cover art by Tim Green); the Subterranean Press signed/limited issue (2022, one of 500, wraparound cover art and illustrated endpapers); the Goldsboro Books signed and numbered issue of the Jo Fletcher UK edition (one of 250, with red sprayed edges — a genuine UK variant but a special i

I have a first edition of Mexican Gothic — 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.