Is My The Axion Esti (Το Άξιον Εστί / To Axion Esti) a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The true first is the Ikaros (Athens) edition: a slim wrappered volume of 96 pages (approx
• 24.5 x 16 cm) in publisher's printed paper wrappers
• Two production points are integral to the genuine first issue: the cover design by painter Yannis Tsarouchis and the frontispiece (προμετωπίδα) by painter Yannis Moralis
• The critical dating point is the imprint/colophon date of December 1959 even though the book was not actually distributed until March 1960; a genuine first shows the 1959 imprint with no later printing statement
• It carries no ISBN, so identification rests on the 1959 imprint, the Tsarouchis cover and Moralis frontispiece, the original wrappers, and the absence of any second-edition or later-year reprint notice

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. 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. 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.
4. 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 true first edition is the original-language Greek Το Άξιον Εστί, published by Ikaros (Ίκαρος), Athens, imprint-dated December 1959 (physically distributed March 1960) — this is the copy serious collectors want; the first printing is commonly reported at 815 copies (attributed to Elytis's biography via Encyclopedia.com; treat as a stated figure rather than a bibliographically verified one). The first English-language edition is The Axion Esti, translated and annotated by Edmund Keeley and George Savidis, published by the University of Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, PA) in 1974 as an International Poetry Forum Selection, issued in both hardcover and paperback. English-speaking collectors should note the 1974 Pittsburgh printing is a distinct book from the 1959/1960 Greek first and does not substitute for it.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No U.S./UK book-club (BCE/BOMC) edition of this title exists — it is a Modern Greek literary work, so the usual book-club tells (blind-stamp on rear board, "Book Club Edition" on the flap, gutter-code dots) do not apply. The real trap is the opposite: Ikaros reprinted Το Άξιον Εστί continuously from the 1960s onward in near-identical format, so many later Ikaros printings look superficially like the first. Distinguish by the imprint/colophon date and any added reprint line; a copy with a later year, an ISBN (added only on much later printings), or a numbered "έκδοση" (edition) statement is not the 1959 first. On the English side, the London Anvil Press Poetry issue (from 1980) is a later reprint, not the first English — the 1974 University of Pittsburgh Press printing is the first English edition.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Axion Esti (Το Άξιον Εστί / To Axion Esti) a first edition?

A first edition of The Axion Esti (Το Άξιον Εστί / To Axion Esti) by Odysseas Elytis (Ikaros) is identified by: The true first is the Ikaros (Athens) edition: a slim wrappered volume of 96 pages (approx.

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 true first edition is the original-language Greek Το Άξιον Εστί, published by Ikaros (Ίκαρος), Athens, imprint-dated December 1959 (physically distributed March 1960) — this is the copy serious collectors want; the first printing is commonly reported at 815 copies (attributed to Elytis's biography via Encyclopedia.com; treat as a stated figure rather than a bibliographically verified one).

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

No U.S./UK book-club (BCE/BOMC) edition of this title exists — it is a Modern Greek literary work, so the usual book-club tells (blind-stamp on rear board, "Book Club Edition" on the flap, gutter-code dots) do not apply. The real trap is the opposite: Ikaros reprinted Το Άξιον Εστί continuously from the 1960s onward in near-identical format, so many later Ikaros printings look superficially like the first. Distinguish by the imprint/colophon date and any added reprint line; a copy with a later y

I have a first edition of The Axion Esti (Το Άξιον Εστί / To Axion Esti) — 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.