Is My Music from Spain a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The Levee Press, Greenville, Mississippi, 1948 — printed in the week of 28 June 1948 and the first book issued by the Levee Press
• 8vo, 62 pp, with decorative head pieces; bound in paper-covered (decorated) boards with a printed paper spine label, and issued without a dust jacket as published
• Signed by Welty on the limitation/colophon page
• On the limitation, dealers split and the split is reconcilable: the total limitation is 775 copies, of which 750 were numbered and signed for sale and 25 were hors commerce — so listings reading "one of 775" and "one of 750" are describing the same edition from different ends of the colophon, not two different books
• Bibliography: Polk A6:1
• This is Welty's first signed limited edition and the only one published in her home state

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 US 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?

Census claim CONFIRMED: a US-only original — the Levee Press, Greenville, Mississippi, 1948 — with no UK or foreign-language edition preceding it. The trap is The Golden Apples (Harcourt, Brace, New York, 1949), in which the story was collected as the penultimate piece; that is the first trade-collection appearance and is often mistaken for the story's first appearance. The Levee Press printing precedes it by roughly a year and is the true first.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue exists — this is a signed limited press book, never a trade printing, and was not offered through any club. The only cataloguing hazard is the 775-vs-750 limitation discrepancy noted above, which reflects the hors commerce copies rather than a variant issue.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Music from Spain a first edition?

A first edition of Music from Spain by Eudora Welty (Levee Press) is identified by: The Levee Press, Greenville, Mississippi, 1948 — printed in the week of 28 June 1948 and the first book issued by the Levee Press.

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. Census claim CONFIRMED: a US-only original — the Levee Press, Greenville, Mississippi, 1948 — with no UK or foreign-language edition preceding it.

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

No book-club issue exists — this is a signed limited press book, never a trade printing, and was not offered through any club. The only cataloguing hazard is the 775-vs-750 limitation discrepancy noted above, which reflects the hors commerce copies rather than a variant issue.

I have a first edition of Music from Spain — 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.