Is My Copy of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The first printing is the David Fickling Books hardback, ISBN 038560940X / 9780385609401, issued January 2006: octavo, approximately 215–216 pages, in grey cloth
• First printings carry the full Random House UK-style odd/even printer's key on the copyright page reading 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 — dealers commonly transcribe it run together as "13579108642" — and later impressions drop digits from the left, so a copy reading 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 is a second impression
• The David Fickling jacket has a striped light grey and blue-grey spine with black lettering and should be present and priced at the front flap (price present at the flap, unclipped)
• Copies are sometimes found with a white "First Edition" promotional sticker on the jacket front; that is a bookseller/marketing sticker and is not an identification point
• No first-state text errors are documented

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. Verify this is the UK 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?

UK precedes, with one refinement. David Fickling Books, Oxford, January 2006 (catalogued at 5 January 2006; UK reviews appear from 3 January 2006), ISBN 9780385609401, is the true first. A SEPARATE Doubleday/Transworld hardback issue under ISBN 9780385611350 / 0385611358, with a different jacket, followed later in the same year and is a first-thus trap — same year, same country, but not the first. The first American edition is David Fickling Books / Random House Children's Books, New York, 12 September 2006, ISBN 9780385751063, which respells the title "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas"; it is collected as the US first only, never as the true first.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue is documented for the 2006 UK first. The reprint traps here are the concurrent-year Doubleday issue (9780385611350) noted above and the later Random House Children's Books UK reissues, e.g. 9780857533937, which are reprints under new jackets and new ISBNs.P-043251

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas a first edition?

A first edition of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne (David Fickling Books) is identified by: The first printing is the David Fickling Books hardback, ISBN 038560940X / 9780385609401, issued January 2006: octavo, approximately 215–216 pages, in grey cloth.

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). UK precedes, with one refinement.

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

No book-club issue is documented for the 2006 UK first. The reprint traps here are the concurrent-year Doubleday issue (9780385611350) noted above and the later Random House Children's Books UK reissues, e.g. 9780857533937, which are reprints under new jackets and new ISBNs.

I have a first edition of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and decode the printing with the free First Edition Checker. Clearing out books? I take them as a free donation and make sure collectible copies are identified, not discarded: free pickup in the Albuquerque metro (scheduled by route), the 24/7 drop box at 5445 Edith Blvd NE, or donor-paid mail-in from anywhere in the US. Questions? Call or text 505-250-3804.

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.