Is My Swann's Way a First Edition?

The points of issue

• French true first: Du côté de chez Swann, Bernard Grasset, Paris — printed (achevé d'imprimer) 8 November 1913 and in bookshops 14 November 1913, published at the author's expense
• First-printing points, all of which must agree:
• the title page shows the 'Grasset' type flaw — a bar of type slipped between the 'e' and the 't' of Grasset — corrected in the second printing
• the achevé d'imprimer dated 8 November 1913 sits on the verso of page 523
• there is NO table of contents — Proust had one added after the first impression, which pushed the achevé d'imprimer to page 528, so any copy with a table of contents is a later printing
• yellow wrappers printed in black, the wrapper dated 1913 while the title page is dated 1914

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. Confirm the first-edition statement — look for “First Edition,” “First Printing,” or the publisher’s equivalent wording.
3. 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.
4. Verify this is the American 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?

The census claim is correct. The French Grasset 1913 is the true first. In English, C.K. Scott Moncrieff's Swann's Way was published by Chatto & Windus, London, on 19 September 1922 in two volumes — this is the first edition in English and precedes the Henry Holt, New York issue of the same translation later in 1922. Both English editions are collected (Chatto as first in English, Holt as first American). The 1922 Gallimard/NRF reissue of the French text, and all later retranslations (Kilmartin, Enright, Davis/Penguin), are 'first thus' traps.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue is documented. The signature trap here runs backwards from the usual rule: after the first impression sold through, Grasset overprinted remaining first-printing stock with fictitious edition statements — covers reading '2e édition' or '3e édition' (a third-edition mention appears on covers dated 1913 in Roman numerals) — as a sales device. A false edition statement on the wrapper does NOT demote a copy; judge by the title-page Grasset flaw, the absence of a table of contents, and the achevé d'imprimer on the verso of page 523. Conversely, a corrected title page plus a table of contents identifies the second printing regardless of what the wrapper claims.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Swann's Way a first edition?

A first edition of Swann's Way by Marcel Proust (Bernard Grasset, Paris) is identified by: French true first: Du côté de chez Swann, Bernard Grasset, Paris — printed (achevé d'imprimer) 8 November 1913 and in bookshops 14 November 1913, published at the author's expense.

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 census claim is correct.

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

No book-club issue is documented. The signature trap here runs backwards from the usual rule: after the first impression sold through, Grasset overprinted remaining first-printing stock with fictitious edition statements — covers reading '2e édition' or '3e édition' (a third-edition mention appears on covers dated 1913 in Roman numerals) — as a sales device. A false edition statement on the wrapper does NOT demote a copy; judge by the title-page Grasset flaw, the absence of a table of contents,

I have a first edition of Swann's Way — 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.