Is My Satan in Goray a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Der sotn in Goray was serialized in the Warsaw Yiddish literary magazine Globus between January and September 1933, then issued in book form at Warsaw in 1935 under the imprint of the Yiddish PEN Club — Singer's first book
• There is no formal points census for the Warsaw printing; the 1935 Warsaw title page and PEN Club imprint are themselves the identifier, and surviving copies are very scarce given the destruction of Polish Yiddish printings
• For the first English edition (Noonday Press, New York, 1955, translated from the Yiddish by Jacob Sloan with the author's help), ABAA dealers describe the first as original cloth in a brown pictorial dust jacket designed by Ellen Raskin, collating xi, [1], 239 pp, with the price present at the front flap (clipped flaps are commonly encountered)
• Note that dealer descriptions giving the Yiddish original as '1931' are in error — serialization began in 1933 and the book followed in 1935

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 US 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?

The Yiddish Warsaw 1935 PEN Club edition is the true first in any language. For English, the US precedes the UK: Noonday Press, New York, 1955 comes ahead of the first UK edition, Peter Owen, London, 1958 (the source of the later Corgi paperback). Important correction for collectors: Satan in Goray is Singer's first book but not his first book in English — The Family Moskat (Knopf, 1950) preceded it, so 'first book' language applies only to the Yiddish original.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

First-thus traps rather than book clubs dominate here. The New York 1943 Yiddish reissue reprints the novel together with four added stories under the expanded title 'Der sotn in Goray: a mayse fun fartsaytns un andere dertseylungen' — an expanded reissue, not the first. Later English Farrar, Straus and Noonday/FSG issues are reprints; one ABAA dealer records a 1958 Farrar, Straus hardback that is an apparent first paperback printing rebound into boards, which should not be taken for a hardback first. No book-club edition documented.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Satan in Goray a first edition?

A first edition of Satan in Goray by Isaac Bashevis Singer (Yiddish PEN Club, Warsaw) is identified by: Der sotn in Goray was serialized in the Warsaw Yiddish literary magazine Globus between January and September 1933, then issued in book form at Warsaw in 1935 under the imprint of the Yiddish PEN Club — Singer's first book.

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 Yiddish Warsaw 1935 PEN Club edition is the true first in any language.

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

First-thus traps rather than book clubs dominate here. The New York 1943 Yiddish reissue reprints the novel together with four added stories under the expanded title 'Der sotn in Goray: a mayse fun fartsaytns un andere dertseylungen' — an expanded reissue, not the first. Later English Farrar, Straus and Noonday/FSG issues are reprints; one ABAA dealer records a 1958 Farrar, Straus hardback that is an apparent first paperback printing rebound into boards, which should not be taken for a hardback

I have a first edition of Satan in Goray — 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.