Is My The Death of Jim Loney a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The first printing carries the "FIRST EDITION" statement on the copyright page together with a complete number line ending in 1 — dealers describe first copies as "stated first edition with full number line." The number line governs, and this is the standing Harper trap: Harper & Row stated "First Edition" on the copyright page but frequently failed to strip that statement from later printings, so the statement alone does not prove a first
• Harper added a number row in 1969, initially at the foot of the last page before the rear free endpaper; by 1975 the row was usually moved to the copyright page, so on a 1979 book expect it on the copyright page (Quill & Brush
• Physical points: 179 pp., octavo (about 21.5 cm), quarter dark-blue cloth over blue paper-covered boards with gilt-stamped spine lettering; illustrated color pictorial jacket with the price present at the front flap on unclipped copies
• An uncorrected proof in green printed wrappers is recorded and is uncommon
• No first-state text errors are documented

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. 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 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?

US-only true first: Harper & Row, New York, 1979 (ISBN 0-06-014588-9) — Welch's third book and second novel. No 1979 British edition was traced; the UK issue is the Penguin paperback (ISBN 0140102918, circa 1987) and is a reprint. The Harper Colophon/Perennial paperback (ISBN 0-06-080538-2) and the Penguin Classics edition (2008, with an introduction by Jim Harrison) are "first thus" reprints. Only the 1979 Harper & Row hardcover is the first.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue is documented for this title in the sources consulted. If a copy turns up without a price at the jacket flap, with a blind stamp or deboss at the lower rear board, or on smaller trim, treat it as a club copy regardless of any "First Edition" statement — the Harper practice of leaving the statement in place makes the number line and the physical tells the only reliable evidence.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Death of Jim Loney a first edition?

A first edition of The Death of Jim Loney by James Welch (Harper & Row) is identified by: The first printing carries the "FIRST EDITION" statement on the copyright page together with a complete number line ending in 1 — dealers describe first copies as "stated first edition with full number line." The number line governs, and this is the standing Harper trap: Harper & Row stated "First Edition" on the copyright page but frequently failed to strip that statement from later printings, so the statement alone does not prove a first.

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). US-only true first: Harper & Row, New York, 1979 (ISBN 0-06-014588-9) — Welch's third book and second novel.

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

No book-club issue is documented for this title in the sources consulted. If a copy turns up without a price at the jacket flap, with a blind stamp or deboss at the lower rear board, or on smaller trim, treat it as a club copy regardless of any "First Edition" statement — the Harper practice of leaving the statement in place makes the number line and the physical tells the only reliable evidence.

I have a first edition of The Death of Jim Loney — 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.