Is My The Inhabitant of the Lake and Less Welcome Tenants a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Arkham House, Sauk City, 1964, in a single print run of 2,009 copies
• Arkham never reprinted the title, so no second printing of this text in this form exists and every copy of the 1964 book is a first
• No statement of printing appears on the copyright page (confirmed by L.W. Currey, ABAA) — the absence of a printing statement is itself the expected state, not a defect
• Octavo, cloth-bound, xii + 207 pp., with dust-jacket art by Frank Utpatel
• Dealer descriptions also record a map of the stories' Severn Valley setting printed on the endpapers
• The jacket should carry the price 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. 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.
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 precedence with no competing edition: a British author's debut published by a Wisconsin small press, with no contemporaneous UK edition of the 1964 text. Two 'first thus' traps to reject: Cold Print (Scream/Press, US, 1985) reprints the collection with three stories omitted, and the Headline (UK, 1993) expanded Cold Print restores them — both are reprint gatherings, not this book. PS Publishing (UK, 2011) issued an expanded and illustrated reissue retitled The Inhabitant of the Lake and Other Unwelcome Tenants, adding the stories' early drafts as written before Campbell revised them to August Derleth's suggestions plus Derleth/Campbell correspondence; it is a materially different text and is not the first edition.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Arkham House did not issue book-club editions and did not reprint this title, so there is no book-club or later-Arkham state to confuse with the first — the 2,009-copy run is the whole of it. The reprint states to watch are the Scream/Press 1985 and Headline 1993 Cold Print gatherings and the PS Publishing 2011 expanded reissue. A price-clipped jacket is a condition matter on Arkham books, not a book-club tell.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Inhabitant of the Lake and Less Welcome Tenants a first edition?

A first edition of The Inhabitant of the Lake and Less Welcome Tenants by Ramsey Campbell (Arkham House: Publishers, Sauk City, Wisconsin) is identified by: Arkham House, Sauk City, 1964, in a single print run of 2,009 copies; Arkham never reprinted the title, so no second printing of this text in this form exists and every copy of the 1964 book is a first.

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 precedence with no competing edition: a British author's debut published by a Wisconsin small press, with no contemporaneous UK edition of the 1964 text.

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

Arkham House did not issue book-club editions and did not reprint this title, so there is no book-club or later-Arkham state to confuse with the first — the 2,009-copy run is the whole of it. The reprint states to watch are the Scream/Press 1985 and Headline 1993 Cold Print gatherings and the PS Publishing 2011 expanded reissue. A price-clipped jacket is a condition matter on Arkham books, not a book-club tell.

I have a first edition of The Inhabitant of the Lake and Less Welcome Tenants — 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.