Is My Quimby the Mouse a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First collected hardcover edition of Ware's Quimby strips (mostly 1990-1991, drawn from Acme Novelty Library, Raw, and other sources), Fantagraphics, 2003 first printing
• Large oversized format with gold-stamped hardcover boards

How Fantagraphics Books marked a first edition

• Book-format collections follow standard book-trade conventions: the copyright page carries a 'First printing' or 'First edition' statement with month and year (e.g. 'First printing: September 2019').
• Subsequent printings update the statement to 'Second printing,' etc.; the absence of any higher-printing statement, together with the original stated month, is the first-printing tell.

Full Fantagraphics Books 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 indicia — a first-printing single issue carries no later-printing line; a collected edition is “first thus,” not the true first.
4. Verify this is the world true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
5. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

Format & printing

This title first appeared as a single issue / periodical, not a trade book. The true first is the first-printing single issue; later trade paperbacks or hardcover collections are “first thus.” Check the indicia (the small-print publication block) for a printing statement.

Is this the true first?

First-thus collection (2003); the underlying strips date to the early 1990s.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Reprinted in later editions.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Quimby the Mouse a first edition?

A first edition of Quimby the Mouse by Chris Ware (Fantagraphics Books) is identified by: First collected hardcover edition of Ware's Quimby strips (mostly 1990-1991, drawn from Acme Novelty Library, Raw, and other sources), Fantagraphics, 2003 first printing.

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

Check the copyright page. For a single issue, the indicia shows the printing. First-thus collection (2003); the underlying strips date to the early 1990s.

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

Reprinted in later editions.

I have a first edition of Quimby the Mouse — 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.