Is My The Counterfeiters (Les Faux-monnayeurs) a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The true first is the 1925 Paris NRF/Gallimard printing, the ordinary trade issue appearing in the Collection blanche cream printed wrappers and running to 503 pages with an achevé d'imprimer leaf dated 1925 at the rear
• The premium tirage de tête consists of 121 copies réimposés (re-set) in a taller in-quarto tellière format on vergé (laid) Lafuma-Navarre paper — of which 112 were reserved for the bibliophiles de la Nouvelle Revue Française — each individually numbered; these grand-papier copies are the summit of the edition
• Below them, the standard first-printing large-paper sheets are the 1,244 numbered copies on pur fil Lafuma-Navarre, above the unnumbered trade run
• First-issue copies should show no later printing statement or later achevé d'imprimer; because this was the only work Gide himself called a "roman," the 1925 NRF wrappers with the correct 1925 achevé d'imprimer are the point that matters most

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. 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.
3. Verify this is the American 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?

The true first edition is the French Les Faux-monnayeurs, Paris, Éditions de la Nouvelle Revue Française (Gallimard), 1925 — note the book is dated 1925 but was not placed on sale until February 1926, a well-known quirk dealers routinely cite. The first English-language edition is The Counterfeiters, translated by Dorothy Bussy (whose rendering remains the standard English text), published by Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1927, stating "First American Edition" in publisher's cloth (blue cloth, roughly 365 pp.). The Cassell London edition did not follow until 1931, so the 1927 Knopf is the first edition in English worldwide, not merely the first American.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No prominent U.S. book-club (BOMC-type) edition is a common trap for this title; the practical hazards are different. Beware the many later NRF/Gallimard reprints from the same setting that lack a printing statement or carry a later achevé d'imprimer — these are routinely mis-listed as 1925 first editions. Do not confuse the ordinary 1925 wrappered issue with the 121 réimposé grand-papier copies (taller in-4 tellière on Lafuma-Navarre). On the English side, later Knopf printings and the Modern Library issue (also dated 1931), plus Vintage/Penguin reprints of the Bussy translation, are frequently offered as firsts — only the 1927 Knopf stating "First American Edition" qualifies.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Counterfeiters (Les Faux-monnayeurs) a first edition?

A first edition of The Counterfeiters (Les Faux-monnayeurs) by André Gide (Éditions de la Nouvelle Revue Française / Gallimard) is identified by: The true first is the 1925 Paris NRF/Gallimard printing, the ordinary trade issue appearing in the Collection blanche cream printed wrappers and running to 503 pages with an achevé d'imprimer leaf dated 1925 at the rear.

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. The true first edition is the French Les Faux-monnayeurs, Paris, Éditions de la Nouvelle Revue Française (Gallimard), 1925 — note the book is dated 1925 but was not placed on sale until February 1926, a well-known quirk dealers routinely cite.

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

No prominent U.S. book-club (BOMC-type) edition is a common trap for this title; the practical hazards are different. Beware the many later NRF/Gallimard reprints from the same setting that lack a printing statement or carry a later achevé d'imprimer — these are routinely mis-listed as 1925 first editions. Do not confuse the ordinary 1925 wrappered issue with the 121 réimposé grand-papier copies (taller in-4 tellière on Lafuma-Navarre). On the English side, later Knopf printings and the Modern L

I have a first edition of The Counterfeiters (Les Faux-monnayeurs) — 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.