Is My Copy of 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…

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. 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.