Is My So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First printing has the number line "9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1" on the copyright page together with the statement "First published in Great Britain 1984" — the operative test; a copy lacking the terminal 1 is a later impression
• Black boards
• The distinguishing jacket point: the dust jacket, designed by Gary Day-Ellison, carries an original plastic lenticular hologram mounted on the front panel as issued (it reads as a dinosaur or as a walrus depending on the viewing angle) — jackets missing the hologram are defective, not variants
• Price present at the flap on unclipped copies

How Pan Books marked a first edition

• First printings carry a number line, typically descending ending in 1 (1 present = first); lowest digit indicates printing

Full Pan Books 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 UK 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?

UK original: Pan Books, London and Sydney, published 9 November 1984; the census is right that Pan is the true first, but its framing needs correcting. This is not merely "the first UK hardcover in the series" — Arthur Barker had already issued UK hardcovers of the earlier titles; what is distinctive is that this is the first Hitchhiker's book Pan issued FIRST in hardcover under its own imprint, rather than as a Pan paperback original with a hardback following. The first American edition is Harmony Books, New York, with "First Edition" and the full number line "10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1" on the copyright page; it is collected separately and follows Pan. Dealer and library records split on its year — LCCN 84019350 and copyright-page dating point to 1984, while the LC classification and many dealer catalogues give 1985 — so the census's "US Harmony 1985" is defensible but not settled.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

A US book-club edition of the Harmony text exists and is the common trap: no price at the jacket flap, a blind-stamped device at the rear board, lighter bulk, cheaper paper. The Pan paperback (1985) and the Pocket Books mass-market paperbacks (1985 onward) are reprints, not firsts. Later Pan hardcover impressions are identified by the shortened number line on the copyright page.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish a first edition?

A first edition of So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish by Douglas Adams (Pan Books) is identified by: First printing has the number line "9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1" on the copyright page together with the statement "First published in Great Britain 1984" — the operative test; a copy lacking the terminal 1 is a later impression.

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). UK original: Pan Books, London and Sydney, published 9 November 1984; the census is right that Pan is the true first, but its framing needs correcting.

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

A US book-club edition of the Harmony text exists and is the common trap: no price at the jacket flap, a blind-stamped device at the rear board, lighter bulk, cheaper paper. The Pan paperback (1985) and the Pocket Books mass-market paperbacks (1985 onward) are reprints, not firsts. Later Pan hardcover impressions are identified by the shortened number line on the copyright page.

I have a first edition of So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish — 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.