Is My Security Analysis a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Full title: Security Analysis: Principles and Technique
• The first edition is stated "FIRST EDITION" on the copyright page and collates xi, 725 pp
• The decisive point is what is absent: the first impression carries the first-edition statement with NO impression or printing designation
• McGraw-Hill reprinted heavily within 1934 itself and stated every reprint, so later impressions of the same 1934 edition are found marked "Second Printing" on the copyright page, "First Edition, Third Impression" on the title page, "fourth printing" with the 1934 date, and onward through at least a seventh impression
• Front board carries a blind-stamped border with gilt spine titling
• Sheets were printed by The Maple Press Co., York, Pennsylvania

How Whittlesey House / McGraw-Hill Book Company marked a first edition

• Pre-1956: McGraw-Hill may not have used a first-edition statement at all. Where one appears, it is on the COPYRIGHT PAGE (not the title page); the safest pre-1956 signal is a single un-amended copyright date with no late…

Full Whittlesey House / McGraw-Hill Book Company 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?

Confirms the census on substance, with one refinement: the 1934 first is a Whittlesey House imprint — McGraw-Hill's trade division — and the title page carries both New York and London, so there is no UK-versus-US precedence question and no separate British first to name. US only. Only 1934 is the first edition of the work; the substantially rewritten 1940 second edition, the 1951 third (with Charles Tatham, Jr.), the 1962 fourth (with Sidney Cottle), the 1988 fifth (Cottle, Murray and Block) and the 2008 sixth are new editions, not printings of the first.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue is documented. The principal reprint trap is McGraw-Hill's facsimile "Security Analysis: The Classic 1934 Edition" (ISBN 0070244960), a modern reproduction of the 1934 text that is regularly mistaken for the original. Within 1934 itself, the stated later impressions are the commonest misattribution — sellers read "FIRST EDITION" on the copyright page and stop before the impression line. Read both the copyright page and the title page. Note also that Wikipedia's black-equals-first / maroon-equals-second-printing assertion is contradicted by ABAA dealer records and should not be relied on.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Security Analysis a first edition?

A first edition of Security Analysis by Benjamin Graham and David L. Dodd (Whittlesey House / McGraw-Hill Book Company) is identified by: Full title: Security Analysis: Principles and Technique.

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. Confirms the census on substance, with one refinement: the 1934 first is a Whittlesey House imprint — McGraw-Hill's trade division — and the title page carries both New York and London, so there is no UK-versus-US precedence question and no separate British first to name.

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

No book-club issue is documented. The principal reprint trap is McGraw-Hill's facsimile "Security Analysis: The Classic 1934 Edition" (ISBN 0070244960), a modern reproduction of the 1934 text that is regularly mistaken for the original. Within 1934 itself, the stated later impressions are the commonest misattribution — sellers read "FIRST EDITION" on the copyright page and stop before the impression line. Read both the copyright page and the title page. Note also that Wikipedia's black-equals-fi

I have a first edition of Security Analysis — 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.