Is My Roughing It a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Hartford: American Publishing Company, 1872, sold by subscription (BAL 3337)
• Dealers commonly cite these first-state points: on page 242, lines 20-21 read cleanly "premises -- said he / was occupying his"; page 156 has a capital "T" for "Trees" and reads "thirteenth" rather than the later-corrected "sixteenth"; page 330, line 23, has a capital "E" for "Eastern"; publisher's advertisements appear on page [592]; and on page xi the "M" of "My" is undamaged type
• As a subscription book sold door-to-door by agents, Roughing It was issued in multiple original cloth colors, none of which by itself indicates priority -- the textual points above, not the binding color, identify the earliest printed sheets

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. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Because the American Publishing Company kept the original stereotype plates in use for years, later printings continued to carry the same 1872 copyright notice even when actually printed decades afterward; a copyright page reading "1872" does not by itself establish a first printing -- only the textual points above, not the copyright date or binding color, identify true first-state sheets.P-035610

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Roughing It a first edition?

A first edition of Roughing It by Mark Twain (Samuel L. Clemens) (American Publishing Company) is identified by: Hartford: American Publishing Company, 1872, sold by subscription (BAL 3337).

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.

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

Because the American Publishing Company kept the original stereotype plates in use for years, later printings continued to carry the same 1872 copyright notice even when actually printed decades afterward; a copyright page reading "1872" does not by itself establish a first printing -- only the textual points above, not the copyright date or binding color, identify true first-state sheets.

I have a first edition of Roughing It — 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.