Is My The Extended Phenotype: The Gene as the Unit of Selection a First Edition?

The points of issue

• W. H. Freeman and Company, 1982; hardcover, 307 pages, with the imprint statement reading Oxford and San Francisco
• First edition, no later-printing or revised statement; priced dust jacket
• ISBN 0716713586

How W. H. Freeman and Company marked a first edition

• c.1980-present: number line on the copyright page; the lowest digit present indicates the printing. Many texts also carry a coded year cluster. For revised STM textbooks the title-page edition number (1st, 2nd, 3rd ed.)…

Full W. H. Freeman and Company 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 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?

True first is the 1982 W. H. Freeman and Company hardcover (imprint dated Oxford and San Francisco). Oxford University Press issued only the 1983 paperback, and OUP later published the 1999 revised edition with the subtitle The Long Reach of the Gene. The original record's 'UK true first (Freeman/Oxford)' framing overstated Oxford University Press's role.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No BCE.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Extended Phenotype: The Gene as the Unit of Selection a first edition?

A first edition of The Extended Phenotype: The Gene as the Unit of Selection by Richard Dawkins (W. H. Freeman and Company) is identified by: Freeman and Company, 1982; hardcover, 307 pages, with the imprint statement reading Oxford and San Francisco.

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. True first is the 1982 W.

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

No BCE.

I have a first edition of The Extended Phenotype: The Gene as the Unit of Selection — what should I do?

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 lost. To sell, see the author’s collecting guide. Either way, nothing collectible ends up in a landfill.

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.