Is My The Girl Who Played with Fire a First Edition?

The points of issue

• For the first English edition (MacLehose Press/Quercus, London, 2009, hardback): first printing is identified by a complete descending number line retaining the 1 on the copyright page
• This is unusual for a British publisher, most of which use an odd/even line, so it warrants the corroboration found: independent AbeBooks dealers grade the MacLehose Millennium printings by progressive removal from the bottom of a descending line — first printing '10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1', second printing '10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2', third '10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3', fourth '10 9 8 7 6 5 4'
• Dealer descriptions of LATER printings lacking the 1 are the strongest available evidence that the first retains it
• Note the hedge: those graded quotations are drawn from listings across the MacLehose Millennium titles including the sibling volume, not from a transcribed copyright page of this title specifically
• Physical: octavo, c
• 569 pp; translation credited to Reg Keeland, the pseudonym used by Steven T. Murray; issued in a priced jacket with the price present at the flap

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. 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.
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?

The census claim is upheld. Norstedts, Stockholm, 2006 (Flickan som lekte med elden) is the original-language true first, published posthumously. In English, the UK MacLehose Press/Quercus hardback of January 2009 precedes the US Alfred A. Knopf edition of 2009 — Rare Antiquarian Books catalogues the MacLehose 2009 first and states expressly that it preceded the US edition, and Eureka Books catalogues the Knopf issue as 'First American edition (first printing)', 503 pp, ISBN 0307269981. Both the Swedish original and the UK MacLehose first English are collected and should be named as distinct; the US Knopf first should be described as the first American edition, not the true first. Second volume of the Millennium trilogy.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue is documented in the sources consulted. Two reprint/'first thus' traps are documented instead. First, the 2010 MacLehose deluxe boxed set gathers REVISED hardback editions of the three novels with maps plus a fourth essay volume; it is its own first impression (number line to 1) but is not the first edition of this novel. Second, the mass Vintage/Knopf and Quercus paperback reissues that followed the films carry the original dates and are later issues. On the UK first, the operative reprint tell is simply the number line: a line no longer retaining the 1 is a later printing despite the 2009 date.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Girl Who Played with Fire a first edition?

A first edition of The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson (Norstedts) is identified by: For the first English edition (MacLehose Press/Quercus, London, 2009, hardback): first printing is identified by a complete descending number line retaining the 1 on the copyright page.

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). The census claim is upheld.

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

No book-club issue is documented in the sources consulted. Two reprint/'first thus' traps are documented instead. First, the 2010 MacLehose deluxe boxed set gathers REVISED hardback editions of the three novels with maps plus a fourth essay volume; it is its own first impression (number line to 1) but is not the first edition of this novel. Second, the mass Vintage/Knopf and Quercus paperback reissues that followed the films carry the original dates and are later issues. On the UK first, the ope

I have a first edition of The Girl Who Played with Fire — 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.