Is My Mister Wonderful a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First book edition (full title Mister Wonderful: A Love Story), Pantheon, 2011, number line to 1
• Oblong hardcover with illustrated laminated boards, issued without a dust jacket
• Expands the story serialized in the New York Times Magazine with roughly forty pages of new material

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. Read the indicia — a first-printing single issue carries no later-printing line; a collected edition is “first thus,” not the true first.
3. Verify this is the US true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
4. 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?

First book edition 2011; serialized in the New York Times Magazine 2007-2008. The US Pantheon edition is the true first; a UK Jonathan Cape edition also appeared in 2011.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Later printings are numbered accordingly.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Mister Wonderful a first edition?

A first edition of Mister Wonderful by Daniel Clowes (Pantheon Books) is identified by: First book edition (full title Mister Wonderful: A Love Story), Pantheon, 2011, number line to 1.

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

Check the copyright page. For a single issue, the indicia shows the printing. First book edition 2011; serialized in the New York Times Magazine 2007-2008.

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

Later printings are numbered accordingly.

I have a first edition of Mister Wonderful — what should I do?

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 lost. To sell, see the author’s collecting guide. Either way, nothing collectible ends up in a landfill.

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.