Is My The Family of Pascual Duarte a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First English edition is the UK Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1946, translated by John Marks, issued under the title 'Pascual Duarte's Family' (not 'The Family of Pascual Duarte')
• Cloth in dust jacket
• This precedes the better-known Anthony Kerrigan translation, which appeared as 'The Family of Pascual Duarte' from Little, Brown (Boston, 1964)

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. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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 of the work is the Spanish 'La familia de Pascual Duarte' (Ediciones Aldecoa, Burgos, 1942). The first edition in English is the 1946 Eyre & Spottiswoode (Marks translation, titled 'Pascual Duarte's Family'), not the 1964 Kerrigan. The familiar title 'The Family of Pascual Duarte' belongs to the later 1964 Kerrigan translation, which is a 'first thus' for that text.P-004008

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

The 1964 Little, Brown Kerrigan edition (titled 'The Family of Pascual Duarte') and Dalkey Archive reissues are not the 1946 first English.P-004009

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Family of Pascual Duarte a first edition?

A first edition of The Family of Pascual Duarte by Camilo José Cela (trans. John Marks; later Anthony Kerrigan) (Eyre & Spottiswoode, London) is identified by: First English edition is the UK Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1946, translated by John Marks, issued under the title 'Pascual Duarte's Family' (not 'The Family of Pascual Duarte').

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 of the work is the Spanish 'La familia de Pascual Duarte' (Ediciones Aldecoa, Burgos, 1942).

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

The 1964 Little, Brown Kerrigan edition (titled 'The Family of Pascual Duarte') and Dalkey Archive reissues are not the 1946 first English.

I have a first edition of The Family of Pascual Duarte — 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.