Is My Rossetti: His Life and Works a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Duckworth (London) 1928 — Waugh's first commercially published book, appearing April 1928, months before Decline and Fall (September 1928)
• The first impression is bound in maroon cloth with gilt spine lettering, in a cream/buff printed dust wrapper, and illustrated with eight monochrome plates; the first-impression verso carries no 'Second/Third impression' notice
• Duckworth reprinted rapidly — a second impression was at press by mid-October 1928 and a third followed in December 1928 from the plates — so a genuine first must lack any later-impression statement

How Duckworth marked a first edition

• Duckworth is NOT separately listed in the standard publisher-by-publisher first-edition guides (verified absent from the QBBooks A–G 'First Edition Identification by Publisher' table), so there is no documented Duckworth…
• For the interwar/mid-century period (the Anthony Powell era: Afternoon Men 1931, Venusberg 1932, From a View to a Death 1933, Agents and Patients 1936) the first edition is normally shown on the copyright/verso page by a…

Full Duckworth 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 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?

UK Duckworth (London) 1928 is the true first; the Dodd, Mead (New York) 1928 issue is the American edition, produced for the US market around the centenary of Rossetti's birth. Note the 'first book' trap: Rossetti is Waugh's first commercially published (and first full-length) book, but he was preceded in print by privately printed items, notably his Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood essay (1926, an edition of about fifty copies).

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Second impression (October 1928) and third impression (December 1928, from the plates) exist; only the un-noted first impression is the first printing. Dodd, Mead 1928 is the American issue, not a book club.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Rossetti: His Life and Works a first edition?

A first edition of Rossetti: His Life and Works by Evelyn Waugh (Duckworth) is identified by: Duckworth (London) 1928 — Waugh's first commercially published book, appearing April 1928, months before Decline and Fall (September 1928).

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. UK Duckworth (London) 1928 is the true first; the Dodd, Mead (New York) 1928 issue is the American edition, produced for the US market around the centenary of Rossetti's birth.

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

Second impression (October 1928) and third impression (December 1928, from the plates) exist; only the un-noted first impression is the first printing. Dodd, Mead 1928 is the American issue, not a book club.

I have a first edition of Rossetti: His Life and Works — 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.