Is My Tales of Soldiers and Civilians a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First edition: San Francisco, E. L. G. Steele, 1891 — BAL 1109
• The title page and copyright are dated 1891, but the book was actually issued in early 1892
• Bierce's own prefatory note refers to the 1892 appearance, and the standard dating convention is 'dated 1891, issued 1892.' Octavo, collating pp. [1-8] 9-300 [301-304: blank], with a flyleaf before the title leaf, the penultimate leaf blank and the final leaf excised
• Original cloth stamped in gold on the front and spine panels
• Currey records gray cloth as BAL binding variant A, while other ABAA dealers report first-edition copies in light green cloth, so more than one cloth is in circulation and cloth color alone is not determinative — the imprint, collation and excised final leaf are the reliable points
• There is no edition or printing statement and no number line

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. 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 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 confirmed: the American Steele issue (dated 1891, issued 1892) is the true first and precedes all other editions. The first English edition is separately collected: London, Chatto & Windus, 1892, retitled 'In the Midst of Life: Tales of Soldiers and Civilians' (vi, 244 pp.), bound in blue cloth — the first edition to carry the 'In the Midst of Life' title, and the true UK first. Both editions are collected; name them separately. The G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1898 issue under the 'In the Midst of Life' title is a revised and enlarged edition (expanded to twenty-two tales, and to twenty-six by 1909), not a first of any kind.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No contemporary book-club issue is documented. The principal trap is the New York, United States Book Company issue, printed from the first-edition plates and carrying the same E. L. G. Steele 1891 copyright on the copyright page — it is the second American edition and is regularly offered online as a 'first edition, first printing.' Check the foot of the title page: only 'E. L. G. Steele, San Francisco' is the first. Secondary traps are the 1898 Putnam revised edition and the Neale Collected Works redistribution of the stories; modern scholarly and trade reissues are 'first thus.'

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Tales of Soldiers and Civilians a first edition?

A first edition of Tales of Soldiers and Civilians by Ambrose Bierce (E. L. G. Steele, San Francisco) is identified by: First edition: San Francisco, E.

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). The census claim is confirmed: the American Steele issue (dated 1891, issued 1892) is the true first and precedes all other editions.

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

No contemporary book-club issue is documented. The principal trap is the New York, United States Book Company issue, printed from the first-edition plates and carrying the same E. L. G. Steele 1891 copyright on the copyright page — it is the second American edition and is regularly offered online as a 'first edition, first printing.' Check the foot of the title page: only 'E. L. G. Steele, San Francisco' is the first. Secondary traps are the 1898 Putnam revised edition and the Neale Collected Wo

I have a first edition of Tales of Soldiers and Civilians — 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.