Is My Six Characters in Search of an Author (Sei personaggi in cerca d'autore) a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The true first is the 1921 Bemporad small octavo (approx
• 193 x 135 mm), issued as volume III of Pirandello's "Maschere nude" series under the full title "Sei personaggi in cerca d'autore
• Commedia da fare," collating to 141 pages
• It is a paperback in original printed wrappers, the front cover lettered in black and red within a typographic/ornamental border; the text was printed by the Stabilimenti Grafici A. Vallecchi (Florence)
• Identify it by the title page dated 1921, the R. Bemporad & Figlio imprint, and the "Maschere nude" series designation (vol
• III) with no later series or reprint statement; the standard bibliographic citation is Gambetti-Vezzosi p

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. 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.
4. 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 true first edition is the Italian: Florence, R. Bemporad & Figlio, 1921 (Maschere nude III), published the same year as the play's tumultuous premiere at the Teatro Valle in Rome in May 1921 (sources give the date as 9 or 10 May). This 1921 text is NOT the version most readers know: Pirandello heavily revised the play for the 1925 Bemporad edition, adding his now-famous author's preface ("Come e perche ho scritto Sei personaggi...," first printed in Comoedia, Jan. 1925), the use of masks, and a changed ending. The 1921 first thus lacks the preface and the revised finale, which is the decisive point distinguishing the true first from the far commoner 1925 revised edition and all later texts. The first English-language book appearance is "Three Plays" (New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., 1922), containing "Six Characters in Search of an Author" translated by Edward Storer (from the 1921 text, with the author's approval), alongside "Henry IV" and "Right You Are (If You Think So!)"; the first English staged production was at the Kingsway Theatre, London, in February 1922.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

The confusion here is textual, not a Book-of-the-Month-style book-club reprint: the ubiquitous copies are the 1925 revised Bemporad edition (and its many later Mondadori printings after Mondadori absorbed the Pirandello list), which add the preface, masks, and new ending and are frequently mistaken for or sold loosely as "first edition." Any copy containing the author's preface is 1925 or later, never the 1921 first. On the English side, the 1922 Dutton "Three Plays" was reprinted repeatedly and the Storer translation was widely reissued in later selections, so a Storer text alone does not prove the 1922 first printing; verify the 1922 Dutton title page and first-printing imprint. No notable dedicated book-club edition of the Italian first is recorded.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Six Characters in Search of an Author (Sei personaggi in cerca d'autore) a first edition?

A first edition of Six Characters in Search of an Author (Sei personaggi in cerca d'autore) by Luigi Pirandello (R. Bemporad & Figlio, Editori) is identified by: The true first is the 1921 Bemporad small octavo (approx.

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 true first edition is the Italian: Florence, R.

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

The confusion here is textual, not a Book-of-the-Month-style book-club reprint: the ubiquitous copies are the 1925 revised Bemporad edition (and its many later Mondadori printings after Mondadori absorbed the Pirandello list), which add the preface, masks, and new ending and are frequently mistaken for or sold loosely as "first edition." Any copy containing the author's preface is 1925 or later, never the 1921 first. On the English side, the 1922 Dutton "Three Plays" was reprinted repeatedly and

I have a first edition of Six Characters in Search of an Author (Sei personaggi in cerca d'autore) — 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.