Is My Sacred Clowns a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The trade first is HarperCollins, New York, 1993 (ISBN 0-06-016767-X), octavo, 305 pp., bound in half white cloth over rust-colored boards, in a priced jacket with cover art by Peter Thorpe depicting a koshare (Pueblo sacred clown) against a pueblo village in an oval
• Dealers identify the first printing by the "FIRST EDITION" statement on the copyright page; the Quill & Brush publisher guide records that HarperCollins states "First Edition" alongside a number row and warns the statement was sometimes left standing on later printings, so the number row must be checked as well
• Two separate signed limited issues exist and are not the trade first: a numbered, slipcased signed limited (dealer and auction descriptions give the limitation variously as 500 and as 526 copies — check the limitation leaf), and Buffalo Medicine Press copies carrying an original hand-drawn or watercolored Ernest Franklin illustration tipped in at the half-title

How HarperCollins marked a first edition

• 1922–c.1962 (Harper & Brothers, stated-first era): from 1922 Harper & Brothers began printing the words 'First Edition' on the copyright page. IMPORTANT: the letter printing code did NOT stop in 1922 — it continued to ap…
• Reading the year code (the central trap): the year sequence begins M=1912 and runs forward through the alphabet — M=1912, N=1913, O=1914 … Z=1925, A=1926, B=1927 … L=1936. In 1937 the alphabet is RECYCLED: it restarts at…

Full HarperCollins 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 census claim of a "US-only first" is incorrect: a first UK edition was published by Michael Joseph, London, also dated 1993 (ISBN 0-7181-3527-X, jacket illustration by Janet Pontin), recorded by the Tony Hillerman Portal (University of New Mexico); some listings date the Michael Joseph 1994. The US HarperCollins printing is the edition collected as the true first for this American author and American publisher; the Michael Joseph is collected as the first UK. Both are collected, and neither should be described as the only first.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Sacred Clowns was a Mystery Guild selection and a Literary Guild / Doubleday Book Club alternate, so club copies are common. Tells: a blind stamp (dot, circle, square or similar) impressed into the rear board near the spine; no price present at the jacket flap; frequently a small contrasting code block on the rear panel and a vertical string of numbers near the margin of the last page. A club copy can still print "First Edition" on the copyright page — the physical tells govern.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Sacred Clowns a first edition?

A first edition of Sacred Clowns by Tony Hillerman (HarperCollins) is identified by: The trade first is HarperCollins, New York, 1993 (ISBN 0-06-016767-X), octavo, 305 pp., bound in half white cloth over rust-colored boards, in a priced jacket with cover art by Peter Thorpe depicting a koshare (Pueblo sacred clown) against a pueblo village in an oval.

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 census claim of a "US-only first" is incorrect: a first UK edition was published by Michael Joseph, London, also dated 1993 (ISBN 0-7181-3527-X, jacket illustration by Janet Pontin), recorded by the Tony Hillerman Portal (University of New Mexico); some listings date the Michael Joseph 1994.

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

Sacred Clowns was a Mystery Guild selection and a Literary Guild / Doubleday Book Club alternate, so club copies are common. Tells: a blind stamp (dot, circle, square or similar) impressed into the rear board near the spine; no price present at the jacket flap; frequently a small contrasting code block on the rear panel and a vertical string of numbers near the margin of the last page. A club copy can still print "First Edition" on the copyright page — the physical tells govern.

I have a first edition of Sacred Clowns — 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.