Is My The First Cities a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Lorde's first book, issued in wrappers: small octavo, [32] unpaginated pages, stapled, in ochre/gold wrappers printed and decorated in black
• Every copy recorded in the dealer sources consulted is in wrappers; no hardcover, cloth, or limited issue is recorded
• The identifying features are the Poets Press imprint and the introduction by Diane di Prima, who published the book through her own press and who had known Lorde since they were fifteen
• There is no printing statement and no number line, and none is expected from this press
• Copies are occasionally found with the publisher's prospectus/flyer laid in; that is a desirable supplementary feature, not a defining point, and its absence does not unseat a copy
• No print run is documented in the sources consulted, so treat any specific figure as unsupported

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. Read the number line — the lowest number is the printing. A line including 1 is a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2). Paste it into the decoder.
3. Verify this is the US true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
4. 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.
5. 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-only. The Poets Press (New York) 1968 wrappered issue is the sole first edition; there is no UK first, no original-language question, and no simultaneous hardcover, so no precedence trap arises. Lorde's poems had appeared in periodicals and anthologies through the 1960s, but The First Cities is her first stand-alone book. Later Lorde volumes that reprint these poems — the collected and selected editions issued by Norton and others — are new editions rather than states of this book, and share none of its points.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition exists; small-press wrappered poetry of this kind was never a club selection, and no reprint in this setting is recorded. The practical tell is the imprint: a copy bearing any publisher other than The Poets Press is not this edition but a later collection reprinting the poems.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The First Cities a first edition?

A first edition of The First Cities by Audre Lorde (The Poets Press, New York) is identified by: Lorde's first book, issued in wrappers: small octavo, [32] unpaginated pages, stapled, in ochre/gold wrappers printed and decorated in black.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A number line whose lowest number is 1 marks a first printing (Random House ends at 2). US-only.

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

No book-club edition exists; small-press wrappered poetry of this kind was never a club selection, and no reprint in this setting is recorded. The practical tell is the imprint: a copy bearing any publisher other than The Poets Press is not this edition but a later collection reprinting the poems.

I have a first edition of The First Cities — 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.