Is My Pavane a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First edition, first impression: London, Rupert Hart-Davis, 1968, hardback in dustwrapper, with cover art by Keith Roberts himself — the author was also a working illustrator, and his own jacket art is a distinguishing feature of the UK first
• The decisive point is contents, not a printing statement: the Hart-Davis first collects the prologue, five measures and the coda, and OMITS "The White Boat." There is no number line; the copyright page carries the 1968 Hart-Davis imprint with no additional impression statement
• The first US edition — Doubleday & Company, Garden City, New York, 1968 — is octavo, cloth, in a priced jacket, and ADDS "The White Boat," expanding the contents to six measures
• Doubleday's own copyright-page first-printing convention was not corroborated against two sources for this specific title and is therefore not asserted; identify the US issue by the Doubleday 1968 imprint and the presence of "The White Boat" in the contents

How Rupert Hart-Davis marked a first edition

• c.1965-1972: Same dated 'First published' convention; a first impression carries no additional impression statement.

Full Rupert Hart-Davis 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. Read the number line — the lowest number is the printing. A line including 1 is a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2). Paste it into the decoder.
4. Verify this is the American 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?

Census claim CONFIRMED in full. Rupert Hart-Davis, London, 1968 is the true first. The Doubleday (Garden City, New York) 1968 first American edition is not a reprint of it — L.W. Currey (ABAA/ILAB) and John W. Knott, Jr., Bookseller (ABAA/ILAB) both catalogue the Doubleday as the first US edition and both note that it adds "The White Boat," which the UK edition does not contain. Both editions are collected and both should be named: Hart-Davis is the true first; Doubleday is the first appearance of the expanded six-measure text now standard. Collectors wanting the complete text and collectors wanting the true first are therefore buying two different books — an unusually clean example of contents differing between firsts.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue is documented for the 1968 Hart-Davis printing in the sources consulted. For the Doubleday edition, Science Fiction Book Club issues are the standard trap on American SF hardcovers of this period and are identified by the absence of a price at the jacket flap together with the club's blind-stamp or dot to the rear board; that general tell was not specifically corroborated for this title, so confirm against the copy in hand. The Hart-Davis edition is described in the trade as uncommon.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Pavane a first edition?

A first edition of Pavane by Keith Roberts (Rupert Hart-Davis) is identified by: First edition, first impression: London, Rupert Hart-Davis, 1968, hardback in dustwrapper, with cover art by Keith Roberts himself — the author was also a working illustrator, and his own jacket art is a distinguishing feature of the UK first.

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

Check the copyright page. A number line whose lowest number is 1 marks a first printing (Random House ends at 2). Census claim CONFIRMED in full.

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

No book-club issue is documented for the 1968 Hart-Davis printing in the sources consulted. For the Doubleday edition, Science Fiction Book Club issues are the standard trap on American SF hardcovers of this period and are identified by the absence of a price at the jacket flap together with the club's blind-stamp or dot to the rear board; that general tell was not specifically corroborated for this title, so confirm against the copy in hand. The Hart-Davis edition is described in the trade as u

I have a first edition of Pavane — 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.