Is My The Dragon Masters a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First edition in book form: New York, Ace Books, Inc., 1963, as half of Ace Double Novel Books F-185, backed with Vance's own The Five Gold Bands
• Small octavo in full-colour pictorial wrappers
• Currey's ABAA record states plainly that no statement of printing appears, so identification rests on the F-185 catalogue number, the backed Double format and the 1963 Ace imprint — later Ace reissues carry different catalogue numbers
• This is a paperback original in the sense that matters: the story had appeared only in Galaxy (August 1962) beforehand, and no hardcover preceded the Ace Double
• One caution on the record itself — at least one ABAA listing dates the Ace Double to 1962, conflating the book with the Galaxy appearance
• Currey and the general run of dealer catalogues give 1963

How Ace Books marked a first edition

• Primary method (pre-1968): a first printing carries NO printing statement and NO later-printing line on the copyright page. Ace applied this inconsistently, so treat the absence of a printing notice as suggestive, not co…
• Price increases on later printings of the same/related serial number are a reliable later-STATE indicator. There is no well-documented, consistent Ace convention of an explicit 'First Ace printing: <Month Year>' statemen…

Full Ace Books 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. 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 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 paperback original precedes and is the true first book appearance: Ace Double F-185 (New York), 1963 — the 1963 Hugo winner for best short fiction. CORRECTION to the census claim that the hardcovers are "later small-press reprints": that is wrong. The first hardcover and first British edition came from a trade publisher, Dennis Dobson (London), 1965 — octavo, [iv] 5-136 pp., green cloth lettered in silver on the spine, jacket designed by Richard Weaver, price present at the flap by way of the Dobson net-price sticker; Raptis Rare Books and The Fine Books Company (both ABAA) catalogue it as "first British and first hardcover edition." Both editions are collected and should be named together: the Ace Double is the first edition, the Dobson is the first hardcover and first UK. Galaxy (August 1962) precedes both but is a periodical, not an edition. The genuinely small-press hardcovers (Underwood-Miller, Suntup) arrive decades later and are "first thus."

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club printing is documented in the sources consulted for either the Ace Double or the Dobson hardcover. The reprint tells are catalogue number and format: any Ace paperback of the title lacking the F-185 number and the backed Double format is a later Ace printing, and standalone paperback issues (Mayflower and later) are reprints. On the hardcover side only the 1965 Dobson is contemporary — Underwood-Miller and Suntup hardcovers are modern small-press "first thus" editions — and a genuine Dobson should show green cloth with silver spine lettering beneath the Richard Weaver jacket.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Dragon Masters a first edition?

A first edition of The Dragon Masters by Jack Vance (Ace Books) is identified by: First edition in book form: New York, Ace Books, Inc., 1963, as half of Ace Double Novel Books F-185, backed with Vance's own The Five Gold Bands.

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. US paperback original precedes and is the true first book appearance: Ace Double F-185 (New York), 1963 — the 1963 Hugo winner for best short fiction.

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

No book-club printing is documented in the sources consulted for either the Ace Double or the Dobson hardcover. The reprint tells are catalogue number and format: any Ace paperback of the title lacking the F-185 number and the backed Double format is a later Ace printing, and standalone paperback issues (Mayflower and later) are reprints. On the hardcover side only the 1965 Dobson is contemporary — Underwood-Miller and Suntup hardcovers are modern small-press "first thus" editions — and a genuin

I have a first edition of The Dragon Masters — 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.