Is My Planet of the Apes (La Planète des singes) a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The true first is the French-language trade edition published by René Julliard, Paris, released 10 January 1963
• It is a square 12mo (approx
• 200 x 148 mm), 272 pp, issued in original printed wrappers — a French trade issue, so there is no dust jacket and a copy 'lacking a jacket' is complete
• The publisher's price is present on the rear wrapper
• The first edition is established by the achevé d'imprimer dated January 1963 and by the absence of any later impression or reprint statement
• The only grand papier (large paper) issue is 50 numbered copies on alfa d'Avignon paper, plus a small number of author's copies; every other first-edition copy is the ordinary wrappered trade issue

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. 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?

The French Julliard 1963 edition is the true first; the census claim is correct, but the title trap is three-way and the US precedes the UK. First edition in English and first US: Planet of the Apes, The Vanguard Press, New York, June 1963, translated by Xan Fielding — black quarter cloth over grey paper boards, orange lettering to the spine, circles to the front board, in a priced jacket (price present at the flap). First UK: Monkey Planet, Secker & Warburg, London, January 1964, same Fielding translation, 223 pp, jacket designed by Margaret Eastoe, in a priced jacket (price present at the flap); 'singes' carries both 'monkeys' and 'apes' in French, which is why the two English titles diverge. Secker & Warburg's August 1973 reissue retitled Planet of the Apes to match the film is a 'first thus', not a first edition, and is the commonest misattribution for this book.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

The decisive trap is the Cercle du Nouveau Livre issue (Julliard / Le Cercle du Nouveau Livre, 1963): a subscribers' club printing of 10,000 copies in publisher's green cloth cased binding with blind-stamped decoration. Its imprint is dated 8 January 1963 — two days EARLIER than the trade edition — but Camille Sourget records that it was, by arrangement, distributed only after the trade issue expressly so that the trade edition would have the privilege of being first. The earlier printed date therefore does not give it precedence: it is a club printing, not the first edition. The tell is format: green cloth casebound = club; original printed wrappers = trade first.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Planet of the Apes (La Planète des singes) a first edition?

A first edition of Planet of the Apes (La Planète des singes) by Pierre Boulle (Julliard) is identified by: The true first is the French-language trade edition published by René Julliard, Paris, released 10 January 1963.

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. The French Julliard 1963 edition is the true first; the census claim is correct, but the title trap is three-way and the US precedes the UK.

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

The decisive trap is the Cercle du Nouveau Livre issue (Julliard / Le Cercle du Nouveau Livre, 1963): a subscribers' club printing of 10,000 copies in publisher's green cloth cased binding with blind-stamped decoration. Its imprint is dated 8 January 1963 — two days EARLIER than the trade edition — but Camille Sourget records that it was, by arrangement, distributed only after the trade issue expressly so that the trade edition would have the privilege of being first. The earlier printed date th

I have a first edition of Planet of the Apes (La Planète des singes) — 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.