Is My The Floating Opera a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First printing in publisher's cloth with dust jacket; the printed jacket price on the first issue is 3.95 (the record's 3.75 was incorrect)
• This 1956 text is the altered version Barth made at the publisher's request, with the ending changed to a less nihilistic close
• Barth's preferred text was restored only in the 1967 Doubleday revised edition

How Appleton-Century-Crofts marked a first edition

• Numerical identification in parentheses/brackets at the FOOT OF THE LAST PAGE of text: '(1)' = first printing, '(2)' = second, etc.
• May occasionally have used a 'First Edition' statement instead of the foot-of-last-page number.

Full Appleton-Century-Crofts 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. 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?

True first is the 1956 Appleton-Century-Crofts edition, Barth's debut novel. The 1967 Doubleday edition is a revised, restored first thus and is far more common; the 1956 first is genuinely scarce.P-014904

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition of the 1956 issue is documented. Later Doubleday and Bantam appearances are reprints or the revised text.P-014905

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Floating Opera a first edition?

A first edition of The Floating Opera by John Barth (Appleton-Century-Crofts) is identified by: First printing in publisher's cloth with dust jacket; the printed jacket price on the first issue is 3.95 (the record's 3.75 was incorrect).

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 1956 Appleton-Century-Crofts edition, Barth's debut novel.

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

No book-club edition of the 1956 issue is documented. Later Doubleday and Bantam appearances are reprints or the revised text.

I have a first edition of The Floating Opera — 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.