Is My Stormbringer a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Herbert Jenkins, London, 1965
• Octavo, 192pp, bound in red boards lettered in white on the spine, jacket art by James Cawthorn; on an unclipped example the price is present at the jacket flap
• No ISBN. The 192-page collation is itself diagnostic: the restored text first published by DAW in 1977 runs to 220pp, so any copy collating to 220pp is the later restored text and not this book
• The 1965 sheets present the material as a fix-up of four Science Fantasy novellas with the first two (plus part of the third) condensed into a single section headed 'The Coming of Chaos' — that section heading is a first-edition text feature, an artefact of the abridgment described below

How Herbert Jenkins marked a first edition

• The identification method depends on the era, because Jenkins changed practice around 1929-1930. This is the single most important point: do not apply one rule to all Jenkins books.
• For roughly 1930 onward (which covers most collected Wodehouse titles): a first edition/first printing IS positively stated on the copyright page (verso of the title leaf) as 'First printing' or 'First edition.' A true f…

Full Herbert Jenkins first-edition guide →

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 American 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?

Publisher and year confirmed — Herbert Jenkins, London 1965 is the true first, it precedes the American Lancer, and the UK hardcover is the key Elric collectible. BUT THE CENSUS PRECEDENCE NOTE IS REFUTED AND CORRECTED HERE: the abridgment is in the Herbert Jenkins first edition itself, not in the Lancer. The 1965 book form was published 'abridged and revised', with roughly a quarter of the Science Fantasy serial text cut — mostly from the second and third novellas — and new bridging material added to hold the remainder together. The Lancer 1967 (US, 190pp, Jack Gaughan cover) simply reprints that abridged text; it is a paperback reprint, not, as the census claims, a paperback original, and it is not the source of the abridgment. The full-length text was first published in any country by DAW in 1977 (220pp, Michael Whelan cover, interior illustrations by James Cawthorn, described as the first restored edition) — that is a textual first, not the edition first, and it does not displace Herbert Jenkins 1965.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

'First thus' traps are unusually thick on this title and none is the first edition: Lancer 1967 and September 1973 (US paperbacks), Mayflower December 1968 (UK paperback, 189pp, Bob Haberfield cover, reprinted 1969), and the DAW 1977 restored edition — which, despite carrying the fullest text published to that date and being widely described as definitive, is a reprint of the title. Later Granada, Berkley, Ace (1987, Robert Gould cover) and Centipede Press (2022 limited hardcover) issues are likewise reprints. No book-club edition is documented in the sources consulted.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Stormbringer a first edition?

A first edition of Stormbringer by Michael Moorcock (Herbert Jenkins) is identified by: Herbert Jenkins, London, 1965.

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. Publisher and year confirmed — Herbert Jenkins, London 1965 is the true first, it precedes the American Lancer, and the UK hardcover is the key Elric collectible.

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

'First thus' traps are unusually thick on this title and none is the first edition: Lancer 1967 and September 1973 (US paperbacks), Mayflower December 1968 (UK paperback, 189pp, Bob Haberfield cover, reprinted 1969), and the DAW 1977 restored edition — which, despite carrying the fullest text published to that date and being widely described as definitive, is a reprint of the title. Later Granada, Berkley, Ace (1987, Robert Gould cover) and Centipede Press (2022 limited hardcover) issues are lik

I have a first edition of Stormbringer — 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.