Is My Passage to the Outside a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The title is 'Passage,' issued as Jargon 20 and published by Jonathan Williams / The Jargon Society from Big Sur in 1956
• Hand-sewn in printed wrappers, letterpress printed by the Windhover Press, cover designed by Jonathan Williams, in an edition of 200 copies
• This is McClure's true first book
• It is not an Auerhahn Press book and it is not dated 1958

How The Jargon Society marked a first edition

• Identification is title-by-title via the JARGON NUMBER and a published checklist (Jargon Society: A Checklist), not a uniform number-line system. Each title carries a sequential Jargon number, and fine-press titles carry…
• 1951 / early 1950s: the earliest item (Jargon 1, 1951) is a letterpress broadside/leaflet in a tiny run (50 copies, printed by David Ruff). First-edition status = matching the checklist's limitation, printer, and physica…

Full The Jargon Society first-edition guide →

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. 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.
4. 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?

'Passage' (Jargon, 1956) is McClure's genuine first book and precedes the Auerhahn 'Hymns to St. Geryon' (1959). The premise that Hymns comes first is incorrect. There is no separate title 'Passage to the Outside'; the book is simply 'Passage.'

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book club edition.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Passage to the Outside a first edition?

A first edition of Passage to the Outside by Michael McClure (The Jargon Society) is identified by: The title is 'Passage,' issued as Jargon 20 and published by Jonathan Williams / The Jargon Society from Big Sur in 1956.

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. 'Passage' (Jargon, 1956) is McClure's genuine first book and precedes the Auerhahn 'Hymns to St.

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

No book club edition.

I have a first edition of Passage to the Outside — 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.