Is My The Country Girls a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First published by Hutchinson, London, in 1960 — the author's first book, written in three weeks
• The first edition is a crown octavo of 224 pages in publisher's original black boards, the backstrip lettered in gilt partially against a pale blue ground; that pale blue panel on the spine is the readiest binding check
• The dust jacket is by Jillian Willett and carries an author portrait on the rear panel, with the price present at the flap on unclipped copies
• No number line is used: the Hutchinson imprint and the copyright-page statement carry the identification

How Hutchinson marked a first edition

• Late 1880s to about 1920: many firsts of this era carry no printing statement at all, so dating relies on the title-page date and on dated rear advertisement catalogs; later printings note reprints. Number lines do not a…
• About 1920 to about 1960: 'First published (year)' or 'First published in Great Britain (year)' on the copyright page; a first impression lists no reprints, while later printings add dated 'Reprinted' or 'New impression'…

Full Hutchinson 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?

Hutchinson (London), 1960, is the true first; the novel was banned by the Irish censorship board on publication and added to a list of over 1,600 banned titles. Alfred A. Knopf published the first American edition in New York — the year is usually given as 1960, but it could not be corroborated against two independent sources here and should be treated as unconfirmed. The Hutchinson London printing is the precedence copy in any case, and the Knopf is properly described only as the first American edition. Note that the Jonathan Cape imprints belong to the sequels (The Lonely Girl, 1962; Girls in Their Married Bliss, 1964), not to this title — a Cape 'Country Girls' is not the first.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No contemporaneous book-club issue of the 1960 Hutchinson printing is documented in the sources consulted. The common reprint traps are the 1965 New American Library softcover and the later omnibus gatherings — the 1978 Collins collection and the 1986 Farrar, Straus and Giroux 'Country Girls Trilogy and Epilogue' — all of which are routinely listed as 'first edition' because they are first thus for their own collected texts.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Country Girls a first edition?

A first edition of The Country Girls by Edna O'Brien (Hutchinson) is identified by: First published by Hutchinson, London, in 1960 — the author's first book, written in three weeks.

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). Hutchinson (London), 1960, is the true first; the novel was banned by the Irish censorship board on publication and added to a list of over 1,600 banned titles.

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

No contemporaneous book-club issue of the 1960 Hutchinson printing is documented in the sources consulted. The common reprint traps are the 1965 New American Library softcover and the later omnibus gatherings — the 1978 Collins collection and the 1986 Farrar, Straus and Giroux 'Country Girls Trilogy and Epilogue' — all of which are routinely listed as 'first edition' because they are first thus for their own collected texts.

I have a first edition of The Country Girls — 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.