Is My The Joy of Cooking (privately printed first edition) a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Self-published in an edition of roughly 3,000 copies
• Printed by A. C. Clayton Printing Co. of St
• Louis (a label printer that had never before printed a book), with no further printings noted
• Cover and chapter-head silhouettes designed by the author's daughter Marion Rombauer, the cover depicting St
• Martha of Bethany subduing a tarasque

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. 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.
4. 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?

This 1931 private printing is the genuine first edition and is exceedingly scarce. The 1936 Bobbs-Merrill 'First Trade Edition' is a distinct, far more common book often misdescribed as 'the' first; note precedence carefully.P-011924

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Any copy bearing the Bobbs-Merrill imprint is NOT the 1931 private first. Later Bobbs-Merrill printings add printing data and revised pagination.P-011925

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Joy of Cooking (privately printed first edition) a first edition?

A first edition of The Joy of Cooking (privately printed first edition) by Irma S. Rombauer (A. C. Clayton Printing Co.) is identified by: Self-published in an edition of roughly 3,000 copies.

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. This 1931 private printing is the genuine first edition and is exceedingly scarce.

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

Any copy bearing the Bobbs-Merrill imprint is NOT the 1931 private first. Later Bobbs-Merrill printings add printing data and revised pagination.

I have a first edition of The Joy of Cooking (privately printed first edition) — 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.