Is My The Benefactor a First Edition?

The points of issue

• New York: Farrar, Straus and Company, 1963
• The first printing is stated — the copyright page reads "First Printing, 1963." Note the imprint carefully: the firm was Farrar, Straus and Company at this date and did not become Farrar, Straus & Giroux until 1964, so catalogue records and even reference sites that print "Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1963" are normalizing to the later name; the title page is the authority
• Binding: black cloth spine lettered in white and light green/turquoise over black paper-covered boards, gray-green endpapers, top edge stained black; ix, 273 pp (some records collate it at 274)
• Jacket designed by Janet Halverson, with a Beardsley-like peacock-fan design on the front panel and a Harry Hess photograph of the young Sontag in a leather coat on the back panel; the first-issue jacket carries that author photograph with no review blurbs, and the price is present at the front flap

How Farrar, Straus and Company marked a first edition

• ERA 1 - Farrar, Straus and Company (founding, c.1945/46-1950): No number line and no consistent 'First Edition' statement. Identify a first printing by the stylized interlocked 'FS' publisher's device on the copyright pa…
• ERA 3 - Farrar, Straus and Cudahy (1953-1963): Imprint line reads 'Farrar, Straus and Cudahy' after the 1953 Pellegrini & Cudahy merger. First printings state 'First Printing (year)' or 'First Published (year)' on the co…

Full Farrar, Straus and Company first-edition guide →

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. 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.
4. Verify this is the US 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?

US Farrar, Straus and Company (New York) 1963 is the true first and is Sontag's first book — the census claim is confirmed. The first UK edition is Eyre & Spottiswoode, London, 1964 (273 pp, dark brown boards lettered in gilt); it is collected in its own right as the first English edition of the author's first book, but it is a year later and second in precedence.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue of the 1963 Farrar, Straus printing is documented in the sources consulted. The trap on this title is "first thus" reprints rather than club copies: the later Picador/FSG paperback reissue (ISBN 9780312420123) is frequently offered under the original 1963 copyright and is a reprint, not a first.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Benefactor a first edition?

A first edition of The Benefactor by Susan Sontag (Farrar, Straus and Company) is identified by: New York: Farrar, Straus and Company, 1963.

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. US Farrar, Straus and Company (New York) 1963 is the true first and is Sontag's first book — the census claim is confirmed.

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

No book-club issue of the 1963 Farrar, Straus printing is documented in the sources consulted. The trap on this title is "first thus" reprints rather than club copies: the later Picador/FSG paperback reissue (ISBN 9780312420123) is frequently offered under the original 1963 copyright and is a reprint, not a first.

I have a first edition of The Benefactor — 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.