Is My The Colour of Magic a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First edition published under the Colin Smythe imprint (Gerrards Cross), 1983
• The sheets were printed in the United States by St
• Martin's Press, which ran 4,540 copies in all and shipped roughly 506 to Smythe for the UK issue — a large share (about 400) going to libraries, which is why a fine jacketed copy is very scarce
• The UK jacket bears NO printed price, only a Colin Smythe price sticker; jacket art is by Alan Smith (NOT Josh Kirby, whose art is on the later Corgi paperbacks)
• Two jacket states exist: the first-state front flap carries the original blurb
• UK publication was delayed (from 10 to 24 November 1983) so a printed label could be pasted over an embarrassingly inaccurate blurb written by the American printers, creating the far more common overlaid second state

How Colin Smythe marked a first edition

• No printer's number line on the Colin Smythe hardbacks. On its 1970s-80s first editions (The Carpet People 1971, Strata 1981, The Colour of Magic 1983, The Light Fantastic 1986) Smythe relied on a stated 'First published…
• A true first impression shows the 'First published in [year]...' statement and carries NO 'Reprinted 19XX' line. The presence of a 'Reprinted 19..' line on the copyright page marks a later impression; a first has none. (…

Full Colin Smythe first-edition guide →

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. 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.
4. Verify this is the US 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?

Precedence is genuinely tangled. St. Martin's Press in New York printed the sheets and released the US issue first (commonly cited as 21 October 1983); the Colin Smythe UK issue followed on 24 November 1983 after the jacket-blurb correction. Simultaneous publication had been intended. The Smythe UK issue (about 506 copies) is the publisher of record for the first Discworld novel and is far scarcer and more sought-after, but it is not unambiguously earlier by date than the larger US issue — collectors nonetheless treat the Smythe issue as the true first. The parallel US St. Martin's issue is documented on the-color-of-magic page.P-037351

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

The Corgi paperback (1985, Josh Kirby cover art) and later reprints are common; a separate, larger US St. Martin's issue and a US book-club edition also exist, as does a later Colin Smythe / Discworld.com facsimile edition — none should be confused with the 1983 Smythe first. Verify the Colin Smythe imprint, the absence of a printed jacket price (sticker only), and — for the premium first state — the front-flap blurb WITHOUT the pasted printed overlay.P-037352

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Colour of Magic a first edition?

A first edition of The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett (Colin Smythe) is identified by: First edition published under the Colin Smythe imprint (Gerrards Cross), 1983.

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. Precedence is genuinely tangled.

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

The Corgi paperback (1985, Josh Kirby cover art) and later reprints are common; a separate, larger US St. Martin's issue and a US book-club edition also exist, as does a later Colin Smythe / Discworld.com facsimile edition — none should be confused with the 1983 Smythe first. Verify the Colin Smythe imprint, the absence of a printed jacket price (sticker only), and — for the premium first state — the front-flap blurb WITHOUT the pasted printed overlay.

I have a first edition of The Colour of Magic — 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.