Is My The Bald Soprano (La Cantatrice chauve) a First Edition?

The points of issue

• CENSUS CORRECTED — the claimed Gallimard 'Theatre I'
• is not the first
• The true first book edition is titled 'Theatre' (Paris, Editions Arcanes, 1953), the first volume of the 'Locus Solus' collection directed by Michel Laclos, containing four plays — La Cantatrice chauve, La Lecon, Jacques ou la soumission, Le Salon de l'automobile — with a preface by Jacques Lemarchand
• A collector looking for a book titled 'La Cantatrice chauve' will never find the first: the volume is titled 'Theatre'
• Collation: 158 pp., approx
• 14.5 x 19.5 cm, paperbound (broche), on Teka paper, numbered

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. 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 French original has precedence, but NOT the edition the census names. Order of appearance: (1) Cahiers du College de 'Pataphysique nos. 7 and the printed price, Paris, 1952 — first appearance in print of any kind, periodical; (2) 'Theatre', Editions Arcanes, Paris, 1953 — the true first book edition; (3) Gallimard, 'Theatre I', Paris, 1954 — the second book appearance and a classic 'first thus' trap, since it is the edition everyone cites and the one the collected Gallimard text descends from. Flag it as first thus, not first. First English: both 1958, and both collected, so name both — Grove Press, New York, 'Four Plays' (translated by Donald M. Allen), where the play is titled 'The Bald Soprano'; and John Calder, London, 1958, in Donald Watson's translation, where it is titled 'The Bald Prima Donna'. The English title therefore differs by country, which is itself an identification point. Month-precedence between the two 1958 editions was not established in the sources consulted; the Calder 1958 date rests on a single source and should be verified against a copy. The celebrated Massin/Cohen typographic edition (Gallimard, 1964) is a designed first thus, not a first edition.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue is documented. The tells are all 'first thus' rather than club reprints, and they are the reason this title is so often misdescribed: any copy lacking the Arcanes justification/numbering is not the original; Gallimard's Theatre I (1954) and its very many later printings, the Folio reissues, the Massin illustrated edition (1964), and the Grove and Calder translations are every one of them subsequent. A copy whose title page reads 'Gallimard' is by that fact not the first edition, whatever its date.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Bald Soprano (La Cantatrice chauve) a first edition?

A first edition of The Bald Soprano (La Cantatrice chauve) by Eugène Ionesco (Éditions Arcanes, Paris) is identified by: CENSUS CORRECTED — the claimed Gallimard 'Theatre I' (1954) is not the first.

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 French original has precedence, but NOT the edition the census names.

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

No book-club issue is documented. The tells are all 'first thus' rather than club reprints, and they are the reason this title is so often misdescribed: any copy lacking the Arcanes justification/numbering is not the original; Gallimard's Theatre I (1954) and its very many later printings, the Folio reissues, the Massin illustrated edition (1964), and the Grove and Calder translations are every one of them subsequent. A copy whose title page reads 'Gallimard' is by that fact not the first editio

I have a first edition of The Bald Soprano (La Cantatrice chauve) — 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.