Is My Copy of 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.P-039950

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.P-039951

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: First edition: Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1984; ISBN 0-684-18132-0; approximately xviii + 684 pp., illustrated.

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. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and decode the printing with the free First Edition Checker. Clearing out books? I take them as a free donation and make sure collectible copies are identified, not discarded: free pickup in the Albuquerque metro (scheduled by route), the 24/7 drop box at 5445 Edith Blvd NE, or donor-paid mail-in from anywhere in the US. Questions? Call or text 505-250-3804.

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.