Is My Sartre: Romantic Rationalist a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Murdoch's first book and the first book-length study of Sartre in English, issued in the Studies in Modern European Literature and Thought series (general editor Erich Heller)
• The true first is Bowes & Bowes, Cambridge, 1953: a slim 12mo of 78 pp in red cloth with gilt spine lettering and a red top-stain
• A first issue carries the Bowes & Bowes imprint on the title/copyright leaf with no later-printing statement; the original dust jacket is a plain typographic series wrapper with the price present at the front flap (unclipped on an early jacket)
• Confirmed against multiple independent ABAA/PBFA dealer descriptions

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. Verify this is the UK true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
4. 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.
5. 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 Bowes & Bowes (Cambridge) 1953 is the originating edition and the collected true first. Yale University Press (New Haven) issued the first American edition in the SAME year, 1953 — a separately collected issue that does not have priority over the British printing. Both are dated 1953, so distinguish by the imprint on the title and copyright leaf.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No notable period book-club edition; later paperback and reprint issues (and subsequent Yale printings) are 'first thus,' not the 1953 first.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Sartre: Romantic Rationalist a first edition?

A first edition of Sartre: Romantic Rationalist by Iris Murdoch (Bowes & Bowes) is identified by: Murdoch's first book and the first book-length study of Sartre in English, issued in the Studies in Modern European Literature and Thought series (general editor Erich Heller).

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 Bowes & Bowes (Cambridge) 1953 is the originating edition and the collected true first.

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

No notable period book-club edition; later paperback and reprint issues (and subsequent Yale printings) are 'first thus,' not the 1953 first.

I have a first edition of Sartre: Romantic Rationalist — 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.