Is My Signifying Rappers: Rap and Race in the Urban Present a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The true first is the US Ecco Press edition of 1990, a trade paperback original in glossy color pictorial wrappers (140 pp. plus a [19]-pp. appendix) — there was no hardcover state, so the wrappers ARE the first and only issue of the first edition
• The cover reproduces art by Jean-Michel Basquiat; the copyright page identifies the Ecco first printing, though the exact number line was not independently transcribed from the sources consulted and is therefore not stated here
• This is Wallace's third book, co-written with Mark Costello, and an uncommon early DFW title (dealers describe signed copies as scarce)

How The Ecco Press marked a first edition

• Independent Ecco Press era (1971–1999): typically stated 'First Edition' / 'First printing' and/or first printings identified by absence of later printings; many were trade paperbacks and poetry.

Full The Ecco 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. Read the number line — the lowest number is the printing. A line including 1 is a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2). Paste it into the decoder.
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 Ecco Press (1990) is the true first; there is no UK or simultaneous edition — it is a US-only paperback original. The full title on the first edition is 'Signifying Rappers: Rap and Race in the Urban Present.'

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Reissued in 2013 by Back Bay Books / Little, Brown (ISBN 978-0-316-22583-0) after Wallace's death — the reprint drops the original subtitle and adds a new foreword by Costello, and is not a first. No book-club issue.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Signifying Rappers: Rap and Race in the Urban Present a first edition?

A first edition of Signifying Rappers: Rap and Race in the Urban Present by David Foster Wallace and Mark Costello (The Ecco Press) is identified by: The true first is the US Ecco Press edition of 1990, a trade paperback original in glossy color pictorial wrappers (140 pp.

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

Check the copyright page. A number line whose lowest number is 1 marks a first printing (Random House ends at 2). US Ecco Press (1990) is the true first; there is no UK or simultaneous edition — it is a US-only paperback original.

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

Reissued in 2013 by Back Bay Books / Little, Brown (ISBN 978-0-316-22583-0) after Wallace's death — the reprint drops the original subtitle and adds a new foreword by Costello, and is not a first. No book-club issue.

I have a first edition of Signifying Rappers: Rap and Race in the Urban Present — 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.