Is My The Hero with a Thousand Faces a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Pantheon Books, New York, 1949, issued as Bollingen Series XVII — the seventeenth volume sponsored by the Bollingen Foundation, which holds the copyright
• Collation xxiii + 416 pp
• (a few dealers collate xxiv + 416), illustrated with textual drawings and plates
• The binding is a distinctive two-tone cloth in black and green with gilt spine lettering; dealers describe it variously as black cloth over green boards, green cloth with a black spine, or simply 'two-tone cloth', but a copy in a single colour of cloth is not the 1949 issue
• Pantheon/Bollingen gave the first printing no 'first edition' statement, so identification is by the 1949 date together with a copyright page free of any later-printing or later-edition notice; subsequent printings are stated, and the revised text is dated 'Second Edition, 1968'
• The jacket should be present, and unclipped copies retain the price at the flap

How Pantheon Books / Bollingen Series XVII marked a first edition

• A true first has both the 'First Edition' statement and the 1 present; reprints drop 'First Edition' and/or the 1.
• Earlier Pantheon (pre-RH, founded 1942): identification by absence of additional printings and by stated 'First Edition' / 'First Printing' where present.

Full Pantheon Books / Bollingen Series XVII 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. Verify this is the US 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?

US only. Pantheon Books, New York, 1949 (Bollingen Series XVII) is the true first. No 1949 British edition appears in any catalogue or dealer database consulted — the earliest UK appearances located are much later paperback lines (Paladin, then Fontana/HarperCollins, 1993) — so there is no UK-first competitor to name. The book was written in English.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition is documented for the 1949 Bollingen issue. The 'first thus' traps are numerous and frequently mis-listed as firsts: the Meridian Books paperback (M22, 1956); Campbell's own revised second edition of 1968; the Princeton University Press/Bollingen reissues, which carry the same 'Bollingen Series XVII' line and mislead by it; and the 2008 third edition from New World Library in the Collected Works. Any copy whose copyright page names Princeton University Press or New World Library is a later edition however the series statement reads.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Hero with a Thousand Faces a first edition?

A first edition of The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell (Pantheon Books / Bollingen Series XVII) is identified by: Pantheon Books, New York, 1949, issued as Bollingen Series XVII — the seventeenth volume sponsored by the Bollingen Foundation, which holds the copyright.

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. US only.

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

No book-club edition is documented for the 1949 Bollingen issue. The 'first thus' traps are numerous and frequently mis-listed as firsts: the Meridian Books paperback (M22, 1956); Campbell's own revised second edition of 1968; the Princeton University Press/Bollingen reissues, which carry the same 'Bollingen Series XVII' line and mislead by it; and the 2008 third edition from New World Library in the Collected Works. Any copy whose copyright page names Princeton University Press or New World Lib

I have a first edition of The Hero with a Thousand Faces — 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.