Is My Signal to Noise a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First book edition: Victor Gollancz (VG Graphics imprint), London, 1992, collecting and revising the serialization that ran in The Face
• Issued the same year in both a pictorial-board hardcover (ISBN 057505140X; no dust jacket was issued) and a softcover (ISBN 0575052848), with an introduction by Jonathan Carroll added for the book
• The US Dark Horse edition also appeared in 1992
• First printing identified by indicia with no later-printing statement

How Victor Gollancz / VG Graphics marked a first edition

• From 1984 onward: began stating "First published in [Year] by Victor Gollancz Ltd" on the copyright page of firsts

Full Victor Gollancz / VG Graphics 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. Read the indicia — a first-printing single issue carries no later-printing line; a collected edition is “first thus,” not the true first.
4. Verify this is the US true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
5. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

Format & printing

This title first appeared as a single issue / periodical, not a trade book. The true first is the first-printing single issue; later trade paperbacks or hardcover collections are “first thus.” Check the indicia (the small-print publication block) for a printing statement.

Is this the true first?

Originally serialized in The Face magazine beginning in 1989; the 1992 Gollancz/VG Graphics book is the first book edition, with a near-simultaneous US Dark Horse edition the same year. The expanded Dark Horse edition (2007) is 'first thus.'P-022457

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition.P-022458

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Signal to Noise a first edition?

A first edition of Signal to Noise by Neil Gaiman & Dave McKean (Victor Gollancz / VG Graphics) is identified by: First book edition: Victor Gollancz (VG Graphics imprint), London, 1992, collecting and revising the serialization that ran in The Face.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. For a single issue, the indicia shows the printing. Originally serialized in The Face magazine beginning in 1989; the 1992 Gollancz/VG Graphics book is the first book edition, with a near-simultaneous US Dark Horse edition the same year.

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

No book-club edition.

I have a first edition of Signal to Noise — 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.