Is My The Diary of a Young Girl (Het Achterhuis) a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Amsterdam: Uitgeverij Contact, published 25 June 1947 in 3,036 copies, printed by Ellerman Harms N.V., Amsterdam
• Title page: "Het Achterhuis: dagboekbrieven van 12 juni 1942 – 1 augustus 1944... met een woord vooraf door Annie Romein-Verschoor." Collation [2], X, 253 pp., illustrated with a frontispiece portrait, photographic plates of the hiding place, a plan of the Annex and diary facsimiles; format roughly 11 x 19 cm
• THE decisive point is on the half-title: the first edition carries the statement "Proloog-reeks" (the Prologue series), and that statement is absent from the second and all subsequent editions
• The first through fourth editions are printed on grey paper in plain cardboard covers with an orange rectangular panel carrying author, title and publisher; wartime paper shortage means sheets of the German book Die Vergeltung
• were used in the binding
• Jacket, designed by Helmut Salden and printed on cheap wood-pulp paper: the author's name is printed in YELLOW on the first edition, and the first six editions are distinguished by that colour in sequence — yellow (the printed pricet), blue (2nd), orange (3rd), red (4th), mint green (5th), blue-green (6th)

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. 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 UK 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?

Original-language (Dutch) precedence; the census claim is correct. Contact, Amsterdam, 1947 is the true first. Two 1952 English editions are separately collected and both should be named. UK: London, Vallentine Mitchell, published April 1952, which precedes and was quietly received. US: New York, Doubleday & Company, published 12 June 1952 in a first printing of 5,000 copies — translated from the Dutch by B. M. Mooyaart-Doubleday with an introduction by Eleanor Roosevelt. The Doubleday first American edition states "First Edition" on the copyright page, is 285 pp., has a red spine lettered in black and the top edge of the text block dyed red (the dye is often faded), and the first-issue jacket is priced at the flap, carries the code "A.F;T.O.D.A.Y.G." at the top of the front panel, and has no code on the rear panel or rear flap. Separately, do not treat the 1995 "Definitive Edition" or the 2001 "Critical Edition" as firsts — both restore passages absent from the 1947 text and are new texts, i.e. classic "first thus" traps.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

The Doubleday American edition was reprinted almost immediately — a second printing of 15,000 and a third of 45,000 followed the 5,000-copy first — so copies lacking the "First Edition" statement on the copyright page are common later printings, not the first. For the Dutch original, the "Proloog-reeks" half-title statement and the yellow jacket lettering are the discriminators against the second and later editions. No dedicated book-club issue of either the 1947 Contact first or the 1952 Doubleday first is documented in the sources consulted.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Diary of a Young Girl (Het Achterhuis) a first edition?

A first edition of The Diary of a Young Girl (Het Achterhuis) by Anne Frank (Uitgeverij Contact) is identified by: Amsterdam: Uitgeverij Contact, published 25 June 1947 in 3,036 copies, printed by Ellerman Harms N.V., Amsterdam.

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. Original-language (Dutch) precedence; the census claim is correct.

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

The Doubleday American edition was reprinted almost immediately — a second printing of 15,000 and a third of 45,000 followed the 5,000-copy first — so copies lacking the "First Edition" statement on the copyright page are common later printings, not the first. For the Dutch original, the "Proloog-reeks" half-title statement and the yellow jacket lettering are the discriminators against the second and later editions. No dedicated book-club issue of either the 1947 Contact first or the 1952 Double

I have a first edition of The Diary of a Young Girl (Het Achterhuis) — 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.