Is My On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First edition: Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1984
• ISBN 0-684-18132-0; approximately xviii + 684 pp., illustrated
• Identification runs on Scribner's post-1972 number row, which carries a letter/letter manufacturer-and-binding code at its centre — the first printing shows the complete row with the "1" present, in the form 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 [code] 20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2; the lowest surviving number gives the printing, so any copy whose row begins at 3 or higher is a later printing
• Binding: publisher's blue cloth lettered in gilt on the spine, with a red top stain
• Issued in a pictorial dust jacket, priced at the flap — a first printing in a price-clipped jacket cannot be confirmed as unclipped-issue by the jacket alone

How Charles Scribner's Sons marked a first edition

• After 1973 the letter code was abandoned in favor of a descending number line ending in 1.

Full Charles Scribner's Sons 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?

US original; the Scribner's 1984 New York edition is the true first. The first British edition is George Allen & Unwin, London, 1986 — a genuine separate edition (the book took the 1986 André Simon award) but subsequent to the US, and collected only as the first UK. FIRST-THUS TRAP: the 2004 Scribner "On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen, Completely Revised and Updated" is a substantially rewritten book, not a reprint of 1984 — it is a first thus. The 2004 UK issue retitled McGee on Food & Cooking is likewise a separate first thus.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue is documented for the 1984 Scribner's hardcover. The routine mislisting is the 1997 Fireside/Scribner trade paperback reissue (ISBN 0-684-80001-2), which carries the 1984 text and is frequently offered as a "first edition" — it is a later-format reprint, not a first. Any hardcover whose number row lacks the "1" is a Scribner's later printing regardless of the 1984 title-page date.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen a first edition?

A first edition of On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen by Harold McGee (Charles Scribner's Sons) is identified by: Census claim confirmed.

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. US original; the Scribner's 1984 New York edition is the true first.

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

No book-club issue is documented for the 1984 Scribner's hardcover. The routine mislisting is the 1997 Fireside/Scribner trade paperback reissue (ISBN 0-684-80001-2), which carries the 1984 text and is frequently offered as a "first edition" — it is a later-format reprint, not a first. Any hardcover whose number row lacks the "1" is a Scribner's later printing regardless of the 1984 title-page date.

I have a first edition of On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen — 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.