Is My Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Viking Press first edition, 1975, in quarter blue cloth over olive/greenish-brown paper-covered boards lettered in green on the spine, in dust jacket priced on the front flap
• The cloth hardcover is the true first; reportedly about 3,500 copies
• Swept the 1976 Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, and National Book Critics Circle Award (the rare triple)

How Viking Press marked a first edition

• Earliest era (1925 to roughly 1937): Viking used no first-edition statement and instead noted later printings; treat the absence of any later-printing notice, with the title-page/copyright dates matching, as the first.
• From about 1937 onward: first printings state "First published by The Viking Press in [year]" or "Published by The Viking Press in [year]" with no later-printing notice; later printings were noted, and from the 1980s a n…

Full Viking Press 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?

US true first in cloth. The paperback editions are NOT simultaneous: a Penguin paperback (US) and a Carcanet Press edition (UK) followed in 1976. There was no concurrent 1975 trade-paperback issue to distinguish from the cloth.P-014799

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition. Correction: the original record's 'simultaneous Viking Compass paperback' could not be verified and appears inaccurate; the paperbacks (Penguin US, Carcanet UK) appeared the following year, 1975.P-014800

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror a first edition?

A first edition of Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror by John Ashbery (Viking Press) is identified by: Viking Press first edition, 1975, in quarter blue cloth over olive/greenish-brown paper-covered boards lettered in green on the spine, in dust jacket priced on the front flap.

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. US true first in cloth.

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

No book-club edition. Correction: the original record's 'simultaneous Viking Compass paperback' could not be verified and appears inaccurate; the paperbacks (Penguin US, Carcanet UK) appeared the following year, 1975.

I have a first edition of Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror — 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.