Is My Mexico City Blues a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Grove Press, New York, 1959
• Issued in cloth and in wrappers
• The clothbound first is bound in grey cloth with the spine lettered in gilt and belongs in a black-and-white first-state dust jacket carrying its printed price
• Charters's bibliography mistakenly calls for a jacket printed in red, green and black, but those are the colours of the wrappers issue and of later jackets; the correct cloth-issue jacket is black and white
• First printing has a copyright page without any later-printing notice
• Confirm the grey cloth with gilt spine, the black-and-white priced jacket, and a first-printing copyright page

How Grove Press marked a first edition

• First editions and later printings are noted on the copyright page; the modern practice uses a number row/printer's key, with the presence of '1' (or the lowest digit) indicating a first printing.
• Grove added a number row around 1969 (initially on the last page before the rear free endpaper, later on the copyright page) but often failed to remove a 'First Edition' statement from reprints — so a 'First Edition' lin…

Full Grove Press 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. 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.
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?

Grove Press US (1959) is the true first; Kerouac's '242 Choruses.' The grey-clothbound issue in the black-and-white jacket is preferred over the red/green/black wrappers issue.P-012933

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Not a book-club staple. Do not accept a red/green/black jacket on a cloth copy as first-state; that colour scheme belongs to the wrappers issue and later jackets. Verify the Grove imprint, first-printing copyright page, grey cloth with gilt spine, and black-and-white priced jacket for the cloth issue.P-012934

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Mexico City Blues a first edition?

A first edition of Mexico City Blues by Jack Kerouac (Grove Press) is identified by: Grove Press, New York, 1959.

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. Grove Press US (1959) is the true first; Kerouac's '242 Choruses.' The grey-clothbound issue in the black-and-white jacket is preferred over the red/green/black wrappers issue.

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

Not a book-club staple. Do not accept a red/green/black jacket on a cloth copy as first-state; that colour scheme belongs to the wrappers issue and later jackets. Verify the Grove imprint, first-printing copyright page, grey cloth with gilt spine, and black-and-white priced jacket for the cloth issue.

I have a first edition of Mexico City Blues — 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.