Is My The Adventures of Tintin (English-language firsts) a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Casterman albums are the original-language true firsts
• The first two English-language Methuen albums both appeared in 1958: The Crab with the Golden Claws and King Ottokar's Sceptre, translated by Leslie Lonsdale-Cooper and Michael Turner
• Methuen firsts carry a First published in Great Britain statement and the original price
• Casterman firsts are identified by the back-cover album list and the fourth-cover spine and dot codes; later reprints update those lists and codes

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. Read the indicia — a first-printing single issue carries no later-printing line; a collected edition is “first thus,” not the true first.
3. Verify this is the UK true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
4. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

Format & printing

This title first appeared as a single issue / periodical, not a trade book. The true first is the first-printing single issue; later trade paperbacks or hardcover collections are “first thus.” Check the indicia (the small-print publication block) for a printing statement.

Is this the true first?

Casterman original-language editions are the true firsts; precise Belgian first printings are identified by the back-cover album list and cover code system. The 1958 Methuen editions are the first English-language printings (first thus). Distinguish the Belgian true first from the UK first-English Methuen edition.P-011366

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition in the usual sense. The main trap is later Casterman and Methuen reprints: Belgian firsts require checking the back-cover album list and fourth-cover code, and English firsts require the Methuen First published in Great Britain statement.P-011367

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Adventures of Tintin (English-language firsts) a first edition?

A first edition of The Adventures of Tintin (English-language firsts) by Hergé (Georges Remi) (Casterman) is identified by: Casterman albums are the original-language true firsts.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. For a single issue, the indicia shows the printing. Casterman original-language editions are the true firsts; precise Belgian first printings are identified by the back-cover album list and cover code system.

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

No book-club edition in the usual sense. The main trap is later Casterman and Methuen reprints: Belgian firsts require checking the back-cover album list and fourth-cover code, and English firsts require the Methuen First published in Great Britain statement.

I have a first edition of The Adventures of Tintin (English-language firsts) — 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.