Is My Smile a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Verified against the copyright page itself (Scholastic's own published interior): the first printing reads "10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 10 11 12 13 14" (printing key followed by year key) directly above the line "First edition, February 2010", with "Printed in Singapore 46" below the credits
• The same page carries both ISBN 978-0-545-13205-3 (hardcover) and ISBN 978-0-545-13206-0 (paperback) and the LCCN 2008051782; the CIP block reads "Smile / Raina Telgemeier. — the printed pricet ed." A first printing must show the printing key running down to 1 — the "First edition, February 2010" line is repeated in later printings, whose key's lowest digit rises
• Credits on a first: color by Stephanie Yue, edited by Cassandra Pelham, book design by Phil Falco and John Green, creative director David Saylor

How Graphix / Scholastic marked a first edition

• Full number line on copyright page; first printing includes/begins effectively with '1' — Scholastic uses interleaved year/printing strings (e.g. '1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2' followed by year codes). If the printing portion do…
• Frequently states the edition: e.g. 'First American edition, October 1998' (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone)

Full Graphix / Scholastic 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 Graphix (an imprint of Scholastic Inc.), New York, February 2010 — US-only true first, with no UK or foreign-language edition preceding it. Hardcover and paperback were issued simultaneously (both ISBNs appear on the one copyright page), so a first-printing paperback is as much a first printing as the hardcover; neither format has precedence over the other. Later reissues — notably the 2020 Graphix edition (ISBN 9781338740264) — are "first thus."

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No separate book-club issue is documented in the sources consulted. The documented reprint tells are the rising printing key on the copyright page and the Turtleback school-library binding (ISBN 9780606140829), which is a bound-up reprint, not a Scholastic first printing.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Smile a first edition?

A first edition of Smile by Raina Telgemeier (Graphix / Scholastic) is identified by: Verified against the copyright page itself (Scholastic's own published interior): the first printing reads "10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 10 11 12 13 14" (printing key followed by year key) directly above the line "First edition, February 2010", with "Printed in Singapore 46" below the credits.

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 Graphix (an imprint of Scholastic Inc.), New York, February 2010 — US-only true first, with no UK or foreign-language edition preceding it.

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

No separate book-club issue is documented in the sources consulted. The documented reprint tells are the rising printing key on the copyright page and the Turtleback school-library binding (ISBN 9780606140829), which is a bound-up reprint, not a Scholastic first printing.

I have a first edition of Smile — 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.