Is My The Bird's Nest a First Edition?

The points of issue

• A first printing is stated on the copyright page
• Farrar, Straus and Young used no number line in 1954, so the stated printing line is the operative point and any copy without it is later
• Bound in red quarter cloth over blue paper-covered boards, octavo, 276 pp
• Bonhams catalogues the spine lettering as gilt while several dealers describe the same stamping as silver, so treat the exact tone of the spine stamping as unsettled and rely on the printing statement instead
• The jacket should be present and unclipped, with the price present at the front flap; a clipped flap is the commonest defect on surviving copies

How Farrar, Straus and Young, New York 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 Young, New York 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. 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. 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?

The US edition has precedence: Farrar, Straus and Young, New York, 1954. The first British edition is Michael Joseph, London, 1955 — physically a different book (black cloth, gilt-stamped spine lettering, 240 pp., octavo) and collected in its own right, but it does not precede. Jackson wrote in English and there is no original-language question.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

The trap on this title is a retitle rather than a club copy. Following the 1957 film Lizzie, the novel was reissued under that title as a Signet paperback, 'Lizzie (The Bird's Nest)', with an 'originally published as The Bird's Nest' note on the copyright page. Any copy titled Lizzie is a later reprint and never the first. No book-club issue of the 1954 Farrar, Straus and Young printing was documented in the sources consulted.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Bird's Nest a first edition?

A first edition of The Bird's Nest by Shirley Jackson (Farrar, Straus and Young, New York) is identified by: A first printing is stated on the copyright page; Farrar, Straus and Young used no number line in 1954, so the stated printing line is the operative point and any copy without it is later.

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 US edition has precedence: Farrar, Straus and Young, New York, 1954.

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

The trap on this title is a retitle rather than a club copy. Following the 1957 film Lizzie, the novel was reissued under that title as a Signet paperback, 'Lizzie (The Bird's Nest)', with an 'originally published as The Bird's Nest' note on the copyright page. Any copy titled Lizzie is a later reprint and never the first. No book-club issue of the 1954 Farrar, Straus and Young printing was documented in the sources consulted.

I have a first edition of The Bird's Nest — 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.