Is My The Alice B. Toklas Cook Book a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The true first is the London Michael Joseph edition of 1954, illustrated by Sir Francis Rose: original tan cloth, the spine lettered and decorated in gilt on a green ground, illustrated endpapers, and top edge stained green, in a priced dust jacket
• The defining textual point is Brion Gysin's 'Haschich Fudge' recipe, present on page 259 of the Michael Joseph printing
• The New York Harper & Brothers edition of the same year expurgated that recipe, and US first-issue copies are reported in quarter olive-green cloth over orange paper boards

How Michael Joseph, London marked a first edition

• First printing = statement present AND no subsequent-impression lines

Full Michael Joseph, London 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 UK 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?

The London Michael Joseph edition precedes the New York Harper & Brothers edition (reported at about two days earlier) and is also the fuller text, since Harper dropped the hashish-fudge recipe — so the UK issue is the collected first on both grounds. The recipe was not restored to an American edition until the early 1960s.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Later Harper/Anchor and subsequent UK reprints restore the fudge recipe, so the recipe's mere presence does not confirm the 1954 Michael Joseph first; identify by the Michael Joseph imprint, 1954 date, and the tan-cloth/green-ground gilt spine.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Alice B. Toklas Cook Book a first edition?

A first edition of The Alice B. Toklas Cook Book by Alice B. Toklas (Michael Joseph, London) is identified by: The true first is the London Michael Joseph edition of 1954, illustrated by Sir Francis Rose: original tan cloth, the spine lettered and decorated in gilt on a green ground, illustrated endpapers, and top edge stained green, in a priced dust jacket.

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 London Michael Joseph edition precedes the New York Harper & Brothers edition (reported at about two days earlier) and is also the fuller text, since Harper dropped the hashish-fudge recipe — so the UK issue is the collected first on both grounds.

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

Later Harper/Anchor and subsequent UK reprints restore the fudge recipe, so the recipe's mere presence does not confirm the 1954 Michael Joseph first; identify by the Michael Joseph imprint, 1954 date, and the tan-cloth/green-ground gilt spine.

I have a first edition of The Alice B. Toklas Cook Book — 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.