Is My Pylon a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The first edition was issued in two simultaneous forms, both collected as first printings
• The trade issue is bound in dark cobalt-blue cloth with the spine and upper cover stamped in gilt within a horizontal black band, with a black top stain; the copyright page of the first printing carries the February 1935 printing date and no later printing statement
• The pictorial jacket should be present and priced at the flap; dealers describe the first-issue jacket as carrying the correct titles on the rear panel
• The signed limited issue is limited to 310 numbered copies signed by Faulkner, bound in quarter blue cloth over silver foil-covered boards with a blue airplane stamped on the front board, spine lettered in silver, silver top edge, and issued in the publisher's paper-covered slipcase (slipcases are frequently absent)
• Note that dealers cite conflicting Petersen numbers for the trade issue (A16b and A17.1a are both in circulation), so the bibliography citation should not be relied on alone

How Harrison Smith and Robert Haas, New York marked a first edition

• 1932–1936: The firm did NOT consistently use a first-edition statement. First printings are identified primarily by the absence of any subsequent-printing notice on the copyright page (later printings were noted). Some t…

Full Harrison Smith and Robert Haas, New York 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?

The US edition (Harrison Smith and Robert Haas, New York, published 25 March 1935) is the true first and precedes the UK edition. Chatto & Windus, London, published its edition later in 1935 in a reported printing of 2,900 copies; it is the first English edition and is collected in its own right, but it does not compete with the US issue for precedence. Both the 310-copy signed limited issue and the trade issue are Smith & Haas 1935 firsts — the limited does not follow the trade.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No contemporary book-club issue of Pylon is documented in the sources consulted. Later reprints under other imprints carry their own publisher's imprint on the spine and title page and lack the black-banded gilt stamping and black top stain of the 1935 trade binding.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Pylon a first edition?

A first edition of Pylon by William Faulkner (Harrison Smith and Robert Haas, New York) 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. The US edition (Harrison Smith and Robert Haas, New York, published 25 March 1935) is the true first and precedes the UK edition.

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

No contemporary book-club issue of Pylon is documented in the sources consulted. Later reprints under other imprints carry their own publisher's imprint on the spine and title page and lack the black-banded gilt stamping and black top stain of the 1935 trade binding.

I have a first edition of Pylon — 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.