Is My The Driver's Seat a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First edition in book form published by Macmillan, London, in September 1970, in the publisher's green cloth lettered in silver to the spine, issued in the pictorial dust jacket (priced at the front flap)
• The complete text had appeared in The New Yorker on 16 May 1970 ahead of book publication — a prior periodical appearance, not a book edition
• Copyright page carries the Macmillan 1970 imprint with no later-impression statement

How Macmillan marked a first edition

• FIRM SPLIT FIRST — this is the master rule. 'Macmillan' is not one publisher. The London parent was founded in 1843 by Daniel and Alexander Macmillan; George Edward Brett opened the New York office in 1869; in 1896 the f…
• US Macmillan, post-1979 (number-line era): after a gradual 1970s rollout, from 1979 onward apply the standard number-line test — the digit '1' MUST be present in the sequence (e.g., 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1) for a first prin…

Full Macmillan 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 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?

Macmillan (London) 1970 is the accepted true first edition in book form and precedes the Alfred A. Knopf (New York) 1970 first American edition; both are collected, with London holding priority. The New Yorker printing (16 May 1970) is the first appearance in print but is a magazine serialization, not the first book — treat it as a 'first appearance,' not the collectible first edition.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No UK book-club issue is noted for the first; later New Directions and Penguin paperbacks are reprints. Confirm the Macmillan imprint and the priced first-issue flap; a clipped flap or a Knopf imprint indicates a different edition.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Driver's Seat a first edition?

A first edition of The Driver's Seat by Muriel Spark (Macmillan) is identified by: First edition in book form published by Macmillan, London, in September 1970, in the publisher's green cloth lettered in silver to the spine, issued in the pictorial dust jacket (priced at the front flap).

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. Macmillan (London) 1970 is the accepted true first edition in book form and precedes the Alfred A.

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

No UK book-club issue is noted for the first; later New Directions and Penguin paperbacks are reprints. Confirm the Macmillan imprint and the priced first-issue flap; a clipped flap or a Knopf imprint indicates a different edition.

I have a first edition of The Driver's Seat — 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.