Is My The Kraken Wakes a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First edition, first impression: London, Michael Joseph, July 1953, hardback in dustwrapper with the publisher's price present at the inside flap
• Michael Joseph first impressions state "First published" with the year on the copyright page and carry no additional impression line; any added impression statement rules out the first, and there is no number line on this publisher's books of the period
• Cloth colour and jacket artist were not corroborated across two sources for this title and are therefore not asserted here
• The first US edition — Out of the Deeps, Ballantine Books, New York, 1953 — is described by L.W. Currey as octavo, boards, and was also issued in Ballantine's simultaneous paperback format with cover art by Richard M. Powers; it is textually cut and is not a substitute for the UK first

How Michael Joseph marked a first edition

• First printing = statement present AND no subsequent-impression lines

Full Michael Joseph 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. 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 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?

Census claim CONFIRMED. Michael Joseph, London, 1953 is the true first. L.W. Currey (ABAA/ILAB) catalogues Out of the Deeps (Ballantine, New York, 1953) as the "First U.S. edition" and notes it was "Issued earlier in Britain with textual differences as THE KRAKEN WAKES (1953)." The Science Fiction Encyclopedia bibliography lists The Kraken Wakes (London: Michael Joseph, 1953) first, with Out of the Deeps (New York: Ballantine Books, 1953) marked "[cut vt of the above]". Both editions are collected and both should be named: The Kraken Wakes is the true first and the complete text; Out of the Deeps is the first American edition and is abridged — documented cuts include most of a chapter on how the Watsons acquired the yacht Midge, passages on Mike Watson's mental state, and a substantially different, bleaker epilogue. Same-year publication under a different title makes this a live alternate-title trap in both directions.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue is documented for the 1953 Michael Joseph printing in the sources consulted. The reprint tell for the UK edition is an added impression statement on the copyright page. For the Ballantine issue, the boards and paperback formats are simultaneous rather than sequential; the paperback carries the Ballantine series number.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Kraken Wakes a first edition?

A first edition of The Kraken Wakes by John Wyndham (Michael Joseph) is identified by: First edition, first impression: London, Michael Joseph, July 1953, hardback in dustwrapper with the publisher's price present at the inside flap.

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). Census claim CONFIRMED.

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

No book-club issue is documented for the 1953 Michael Joseph printing in the sources consulted. The reprint tell for the UK edition is an added impression statement on the copyright page. For the Ballantine issue, the boards and paperback formats are simultaneous rather than sequential; the paperback carries the Ballantine series number.

I have a first edition of The Kraken Wakes — 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.