Is My Talking God a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Harper & Row, New York, 1989
• ISBN 0-06-016118-3; ninth Leaphorn/Chee novel
• The copyright leaf ([viii]) reads "FIRST EDITION... 89 90 91 92 93 CC/HC 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1" — the statement plus Harper's complete code line ending in "1"; read the lowest digit, not just the statement
• Hardback 24 x 16 cm, collating [i-xiv] 1-239 [240-242]. Bound in light yellowish-brown boards with a deep purplish-blue cloth spine lettered in bronze: [vertically] TONY HILLERMAN [device] TALKING GOD, [horizontally] HARPER & ROW. Illustrated multicolour jacket designed by Peter Thorpe — the mask of Talking God centred between Washington, D.C. buildings and monuments; jacket should be unclipped with the price at the front flap
• Book designed by Alma Orenstein
• Recorded as Hieb

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 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?

The census claim is confirmed. Harper & Row, New York, 1989, is the true first; the UK first (Michael Joseph, London, 1990; ISBN 0-7181-3376-5, jacket by Leslie Howell) followed a year later, so US precedence is unambiguous and there is no simultaneity question. One further issue of the first edition is collected alongside the trade and should be named: the publisher's limited issue (Hieb A11b; ISBN 0-06-016153-1), with a limitation leaf at [i] reading "Of the first edition of Talking God three hundred copies have been specially bound and slipcased. Each copy is signed and numbered by the author." It is distinguished from the trade by a WHITE cloth spine over light brown boards lettered in metallic copper, the signed and numbered limitation leaf, and a Peter Thorpe-designed slipcase (Navajo sandstone scene front, Washington, D.C. scene back). Same copyright-page statement and code line as the trade.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Book-club copies exist and are common; dealers list both a hardcover book-club issue and a Detective Book Club omnibus issue (Roslyn, N.Y., 1989) — the latter in stiff pictorial paper wraps with cream and gold lettering. Standard period tells apply: no price at the jacket flap, or "Book Club Edition" printed at the foot of the front flap; reduced trim and lighter bulk on thinner paper; a blind stamp or small dot on the rear board near the spine; and no Harper "FIRST EDITION" line on the copyright page.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Talking God a first edition?

A first edition of Talking God by Tony Hillerman (Harper & Row, New York) is identified by: Harper & Row, New York, 1989; ISBN 0-06-016118-3; ninth Leaphorn/Chee novel.

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.

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

Book-club copies exist and are common; dealers list both a hardcover book-club issue and a Detective Book Club omnibus issue (Roslyn, N.Y., 1989) — the latter in stiff pictorial paper wraps with cream and gold lettering. Standard period tells apply: no price at the jacket flap, or "Book Club Edition" printed at the foot of the front flap; reduced trim and lighter bulk on thinner paper; a blind stamp or small dot on the rear board near the spine; and no Harper "FIRST EDITION" line on the copyrigh

I have a first edition of Talking God — 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.