Is My Requiem (Rekviem) a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The true first is the Russian-language Munich printing of 1963: a slim small octavo of 23 pages (roughly 19.2-19.7 x 14.2-14.5 cm) in publisher's typeset, French-folded printed wrappers, with a phototype portrait frontispiece of Akhmatova after Savely Sorin
• The single decisive point is textual rather than typographic: the book itself carries a printed statement that the cycle was published without the author's knowledge and consent, and dealer and auction descriptions of the 1963 sheets record that statement at the copyright
• The first edition prints Akhmatova's own brief prefatory note and carries NO editorial afterword — any copy with an afterword is a later issue
• Two independent ABAA/dealer descriptions and one auction catalogue agree on a limitation of 500 copies; the census claim (Munich, 1963, emigre-first, no Soviet edition until 1987) is confirmed as stated

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 UK 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?

Russian is the original language and the Munich 1963 emigre printing is the true first in any language — the text was smuggled out of the USSR and set abroad. There is no competing UK or US first of the Russian text, and no Soviet edition of the complete cycle appeared until 1987, so the collected first is the Munich sheets alone; later Soviet and Western printings are reprints, not rival firsts. English translations are all subsequent and derivative.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue is documented. The reprint trap is the same emigre imprint's own later issues: a 1969 printing and a 1974 'third stereotype edition' carrying an afterword by Gleb Struve. Any copy describing itself as a stereotype edition, or containing the Struve afterword, is not the 1963 first even though the publisher's name and city are unchanged.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Requiem (Rekviem) a first edition?

A first edition of Requiem (Rekviem) by Anna Akhmatova (Tovarishchestvo zarubezhnykh pisatelei) is identified by: The true first is the Russian-language Munich printing of 1963: a slim small octavo of 23 pages (roughly 19.2-19.7 x 14.2-14.5 cm) in publisher's typeset, French-folded printed wrappers, with a phototype portrait frontispiece of Akhmatova after Savely Sorin.

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. Russian is the original language and the Munich 1963 emigre printing is the true first in any language — the text was smuggled out of the USSR and set abroad.

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

No book-club issue is documented. The reprint trap is the same emigre imprint's own later issues: a 1969 printing and a 1974 'third stereotype edition' carrying an afterword by Gleb Struve. Any copy describing itself as a stereotype edition, or containing the Struve afterword, is not the 1963 first even though the publisher's name and city are unchanged.

I have a first edition of Requiem (Rekviem) — 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.