Is My The Gentleman from San Francisco (Господин из Сан-Франциско / Gospodin iz San-Frantsisko) a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The text's true first printing is periodical/anthology, not a book: the story debuted in the fifth "Slovo" (Слово / "Word") anthology, issued in Moscow by the Knigoizdatel'stvo pisatelei v Moskve, dated 1915
• The collectible first edition in book form under its own title is the author's-lifetime collection "Господин из Сан-Франциско. Произведения 1915–1916 г." (Moscow: Knigoizdatel'stvo pisatelei v Moskve, 1916), 192 pp., approximately 23.5×16 cm, issued as a softcover in publisher's printed (letterpress) paper wrappers — not publisher's cloth
• Confirm the true first by the 1916 imprint of the Writers' Publishing Association in Moscow, the "Произведения 1915–1916 г." subtitle, and contents that include the title story alongside "Легкое дыхание" (Light Breathing), "Грамматика любви," "Аглая," "Казимир Станиславович," "Клаша," "Сын," and poems
• Because it is a Great-War / late-Imperial trade paperback, survival in the fragile original printed wrappers (uncut, unrestored) is the scarcity driver; rebound or wrapper-lacking copies are common and less desirable

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. 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?

Two "firsts" matter to collectors. (1) The absolute first appearance of the text is the fifth "Slovo"/"Word" anthology (Kn-vo pisatelei v Moskve, Moscow, 1915) — a shared anthology, not a Bunin book. (2) The first edition as a stand-alone Bunin-titled book is "Господин из Сан-Франциско. Произведения 1915–1916 г." (same Moscow publisher, 1916). Serious buyers of the Russian original generally chase the 1916 book; purists also seek the 1915 Slovo No. 5 anthology as the genuine first printing. The first ENGLISH-language edition is "The Gentleman from San Francisco and Other Stories," Richmond (Surrey): The Hogarth Press (Leonard & Virginia Woolf), 1922 — translated by S. S. Koteliansky and Leonard Woolf, with the title story translated by Koteliansky and D. H. Lawrence (Woolmer 18). The first American edition followed from Thomas Seltzer, New York, 1923.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No mass-market book-club edition exists for the Russian original — this is a scarce late-Imperial Moscow imprint, so the trap is not a book club but modern reprints and print-on-demand facsimiles ("Russian Edition"/Nabu-type reprints of the 1916 collection) mistaken for the original; a genuine 1916 copy is letterpress-printed on period paper in fragile printed wrappers bearing the Knigoizdatel'stvo pisatelei v Moskve imprint. For the 1922 Hogarth first English edition, the key first-issue point is the tipped-in errata slip stating that owing to a mistake Mr. Lawrence's name was omitted from the title page (his name is absent from the title page of the true first); it was issued in patterned paper boards with printed white paper labels to spine and front cover, in a run of about 1,000 copies. Later Hogarth impressions/reissues and the 1923 American (Thomas Seltzer) edition are not the first English edition.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Gentleman from San Francisco (Господин из Сан-Франциско / Gospodin iz San-Frantsisko) a first edition?

A first edition of The Gentleman from San Francisco (Господин из Сан-Франциско / Gospodin iz San-Frantsisko) by Ivan Bunin (Ivan Alekseyevich Bunin) (Knigoizdatel'stvo pisatelei v Moskve) is identified by: The text's true first printing is periodical/anthology, not a book: the story debuted in the fifth "Slovo" (Слово / "Word") anthology, issued in Moscow by the Knigoizdatel'stvo pisatelei v Moskve, dated 1915.

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. Two "firsts" matter to collectors.

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

No mass-market book-club edition exists for the Russian original — this is a scarce late-Imperial Moscow imprint, so the trap is not a book club but modern reprints and print-on-demand facsimiles ("Russian Edition"/Nabu-type reprints of the 1916 collection) mistaken for the original; a genuine 1916 copy is letterpress-printed on period paper in fragile printed wrappers bearing the Knigoizdatel'stvo pisatelei v Moskve imprint. For the 1922 Hogarth first English edition, the key first-issue point

I have a first edition of The Gentleman from San Francisco (Господин из Сан-Франциско / Gospodin iz San-Frantsisko) — 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.