Is My The Book of Disquiet a First Edition?

The points of issue

• True first: Edicoes Atica, Lisbon, 1982 — the posthumous editio princeps, 'Livro do Desassossego por Bernardo Soares,' in two volumes, organized with a preface by Jacinto do Prado Coelho and texts collected and transcribed by Maria Aliete Galhoz and Teresa Sobral Cunha (Pessoa died 1935; about 520 fragments assembled)
• English is the classic four-way tangle: FOUR competing translations all appeared in 1991 — 'The Book of Disquietude,' trans
• Richard Zenith (Carcanet, Manchester); 'The Book of Disquiet,' trans
• Margaret Jull Costa, ed
• Maria Jose de Lancastre (Serpent's Tail, London); 'The Book of Disquiet,' trans
• Alfred Mac Adam (Pantheon, New York); and 'The Book of Disquiet: A Selection,' trans

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?

Portuguese true first is Atica 1982 (2 vols). No single English edition is 'the' first: the four 1991 translations issued near-simultaneously from four houses in two countries, and no bibliographic consensus establishes which physically appeared first — cite the specific translator/publisher rather than a blanket 'first English edition.' Note the title variant: Zenith's Carcanet edition is 'The Book of Disquietude'; the other three are 'The Book of Disquiet.'

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Zenith's later, fuller Penguin edition (2001/2002) and the Costa-translated 'Complete Edition' (ed. Jeronimo Pizarro, 2017) are separate later translations/editions, not reprints of the 1991 firsts. No book-club edition is a recognized point.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Book of Disquiet a first edition?

A first edition of The Book of Disquiet by Fernando Pessoa (Edicoes Atica, Lisbon) is identified by: True first: Edicoes Atica, Lisbon, 1982 — the posthumous editio princeps, 'Livro do Desassossego por Bernardo Soares,' in two volumes, organized with a preface by Jacinto do Prado Coelho and texts collected and transcribed by Maria Aliete Galhoz and Teresa Sobral Cunha (Pessoa died 1935; about 520 fragments assembled).

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. Portuguese true first is Atica 1982 (2 vols).

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

Zenith's later, fuller Penguin edition (2001/2002) and the Costa-translated 'Complete Edition' (ed. Jeronimo Pizarro, 2017) are separate later translations/editions, not reprints of the 1991 firsts. No book-club edition is a recognized point.

I have a first edition of The Book of Disquiet — 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.