Is My The Broom of the System a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Hardcover bound in light blue paper-covered boards over black spine cloth, stamped on the spine in metallic blue; dust jacket carries the printed price; number line present down to 1
• The cloth print run was roughly 1,300 copies, with a simultaneous trade paperback in pictorial wraps

How Viking marked a first edition

• From about 1937 onward: first printings state "First published by The Viking Press in [year]" or "Published by The Viking Press in [year]" with no later-printing notice; later printings were noted, and from the 1980s a n…

Full Viking first-edition guide →

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. 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.
3. Verify this is the US 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?

Wallace's debut novel. The cloth hardcover is the desirable true first; the simultaneous Viking trade paperback in pictorial wraps is also a first printing but far less sought after. The US edition is the first; no foreign precedence issue.P-005757

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition (the run was small and literary). The common later state is the later paperback reprint under a different imprint, plainly a different publisher and later.P-005758

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Broom of the System a first edition?

A first edition of The Broom of the System by David Foster Wallace (Viking) is identified by: Hardcover bound in light blue paper-covered boards over black spine cloth, stamped on the spine in metallic blue; dust jacket carries the printed price; number line present down to 1.

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). Wallace's debut novel.

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

No book-club edition (the run was small and literary). The common later state is the later paperback reprint under a different imprint, plainly a different publisher and later.

I have a first edition of The Broom of the System — 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.