Is My The Conspiracy Against the Human Race a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The first edition is the Hippocampus Press hardcover of 2010 (published June 2010), ISBN 978-0-9824296-9-3, bound in black cloth with silver titling and decoration, in a jacket with cover artwork by Jennifer Gariepy, and carrying a foreword by the philosopher Ray Brassier; page counts are cited as 240 or 246 depending on whether front matter is included
• Dealer descriptions of first printings report a complete number line descending to 1 on the copyright page — that number line, taken together with the black cloth binding and the 978-0-9824296-9-3 ISBN, is the working identification
• Hippocampus's own softcover of 2011 carries a different ISBN (978-0-9844802-7-2) and is not the first, notwithstanding that it reproduces the same text and Brassier foreword

How Hippocampus Press, New York marked a first edition

• 1999-present: first printings generally state 'First Edition' / 'First Printing' on the copyright page; predominantly trade paperback and cloth, often single-printing scholarly editions.
• I Am Providence: The Life and Times of H.P. Lovecraft (2010) is the uncut restoration of Joshi's earlier H.P. Lovecraft: A Life (Necronomicon Press, 1996), restoring roughly 150,000 cut words; treat it as the first compl…

Full Hippocampus Press, New York 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. 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 American 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?

The census claim is confirmed: the first edition is American — Hippocampus Press, New York, 2010 — of Ligotti's first work of non-fiction. The book was written in English and there is no earlier UK or foreign-language edition, so no transatlantic precedence question arises. The trap is the 2018 Penguin Books trade paperback (ISBN 978-0-14-313314-8), which is a 'first thus' and not a first: it is a reissue with a new preface by Ligotti and is by far the common state on shelves today, which is why it is so often mistaken for the book. Only the Hippocampus hardcover of 2010 is the first edition; a reported earlier small-press announcement of the title could not be corroborated and is not asserted here.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition is documented. The reprint tells are straightforward and largely ISBN-based: Hippocampus's own 2011 softcover (978-0-9844802-7-2) and the 2018 Penguin paperback (978-0-14-313314-8) are both later, and the Penguin is further identified by its added preface. On a Hippocampus hardcover, a number line no longer descending to 1 indicates a later printing.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Conspiracy Against the Human Race a first edition?

A first edition of The Conspiracy Against the Human Race by Thomas Ligotti (Hippocampus Press, New York) is identified by: The first edition is the Hippocampus Press hardcover of 2010 (published June 2010), ISBN 978-0-9824296-9-3, bound in black cloth with silver titling and decoration, in a jacket with cover artwork by Jennifer Gariepy, and carrying a foreword by the philosopher Ray Brassier; page counts are cited as 240 or 246 depending on whether front matter is included.

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). The census claim is confirmed: the first edition is American — Hippocampus Press, New York, 2010 — of Ligotti's first work of non-fiction.

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

No book-club edition is documented. The reprint tells are straightforward and largely ISBN-based: Hippocampus's own 2011 softcover (978-0-9844802-7-2) and the 2018 Penguin paperback (978-0-14-313314-8) are both later, and the Penguin is further identified by its added preface. On a Hippocampus hardcover, a number line no longer descending to 1 indicates a later printing.

I have a first edition of The Conspiracy Against the Human Race — 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.