Is My The Big Time a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Ace Double D-491, bound dos-a-dos (tete-beche) with Leiber's 'The Mind Spider and Other Stories'; the printed price cover price printed on the cover
• Ed Emshwiller cover art
• The first Ace printing carries the D-491 catalog code and bears no statement of a later printing

How Ace Books marked a first edition

• Primary method (pre-1968): a first printing carries NO printing statement and NO later-printing line on the copyright page. Ace applied this inconsistently, so treat the absence of a printing notice as suggestive, not co…
• Price increases on later printings of the same/related serial number are a reliable later-STATE indicator. There is no well-documented, consistent Ace convention of an explicit 'First Ace printing: <Month Year>' statemen…

Full Ace Books 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 1961 Ace Double paperback is the true first book edition (the text was first serialized in Galaxy, March-April 1958). The first hardcover was Gregg Press in 1976 (first thus). The UK Penguin edition (1965) is later.P-009519

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

There was no book-club edition. Later forms such as the single (non-Double) Ace G-627 and the Collier/Macmillan trade paperbacks are first-thus reprints, not the original Ace Double D-491.P-009520

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Big Time a first edition?

A first edition of The Big Time by Fritz Leiber (Ace Books) is identified by: Ace Double D-491, bound dos-a-dos (tete-beche) with Leiber's 'The Mind Spider and Other Stories'; the printed price cover price printed on the cover; Ed Emshwiller cover art.

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 1961 Ace Double paperback is the true first book edition (the text was first serialized in Galaxy, March-April 1958).

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

There was no book-club edition. Later forms such as the single (non-Double) Ace G-627 and the Collier/Macmillan trade paperbacks are first-thus reprints, not the original Ace Double D-491.

I have a first edition of The Big Time — 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.