Is My Songs of a Dead Dreamer a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The true first is Harry O. Morris's Silver Scarab Press of Albuquerque, New Mexico, 1985 — a limitation of 300 copies, issued paperbound in publisher's pictorial wrappers, NOT in hardcover
• Illustrated by Harry O. Morris, who was also the publisher
• Publisher and dealer descriptions state that copies were signed by Ligotti and Morris on the title page; the limitation statement is the primary point and the signatures are corroborating rather than definitive
• Ligotti's first book
• NOTE a date conflict in the record: Wikipedia's entry dates the collection 1986, against 1985 in Subterranean Press's account, the Heritage Auctions cataloguing of a Silver Scarab copy, and the AbeBooks dealer consensus — 1985 is the better-supported date and Wikipedia is the outlier, but a copy in hand should be checked against its own imprint
• Because the book is paperbound there is no dust jacket and no jacket point

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. Verify this is the US true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
4. 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.
5. 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 precedence, and specifically New Mexico precedence: an American author's debut from a 300-copy Albuquerque micro-press, with no UK or trade edition preceding it. The common text is a later and different book. The expanded, revised edition was first published paperbound in the UK by Robinson Publishing in 1989, collecting two essays and eighteen stories, many revised for that edition; Carroll & Graf issued the US expanded hardcover, whose year is reported inconsistently as 1989 and as June 1990 with twenty stories — that discrepancy is unresolved in the sources consulted. Both expanded editions add 'Notes on the Writing of Horror: A Story' and 'Professor Nobody's Little Lectures on Supernatural Horror,' which are absent from the Silver Scarab original: presence of those pieces immediately rules a copy out as the 1985 first.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition exists — a 300-copy small-press limitation is not a book-club vehicle. The reprint states to watch are all 'first thus': Robinson (UK, 1989, paperbound, expanded), Carroll & Graf (US, expanded hardcover, 1989 or 1990 per conflicting sources), Subterranean Press (2010, republished with author revisions and generally treated as the definitive text), and Penguin Classics (2015, gathering this collection with Grimscribe in one volume). Sellers commonly describe the Carroll & Graf or Subterranean hardcovers as a 'first edition' because they are the first hardcovers; they are not the first edition.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Songs of a Dead Dreamer a first edition?

A first edition of Songs of a Dead Dreamer by Thomas Ligotti (Silver Scarab Press, Albuquerque, New Mexico) is identified by: The true first is Harry O.

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. US precedence, and specifically New Mexico precedence: an American author's debut from a 300-copy Albuquerque micro-press, with no UK or trade edition preceding it.

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

No book-club edition exists — a 300-copy small-press limitation is not a book-club vehicle. The reprint states to watch are all 'first thus': Robinson (UK, 1989, paperbound, expanded), Carroll & Graf (US, expanded hardcover, 1989 or 1990 per conflicting sources), Subterranean Press (2010, republished with author revisions and generally treated as the definitive text), and Penguin Classics (2015, gathering this collection with Grimscribe in one volume). Sellers commonly describe the Carroll & Gra

I have a first edition of Songs of a Dead Dreamer — 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.