Is My 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; the census claim is correct on precedence but needs one refinement it omits. 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.

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; the census claim is correct on precedence but needs one refinement it omits.

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 — 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.