Is My The Legion of Space a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First book edition: Fantasy Press, Reading, Pennsylvania, 1947 — Williamson's first book. "First Edition" is stated on the copyright page with no further printing noted
• L. W. Currey catalogues the trade issue as "First edition so stated on copyright page," and independent dealer descriptions record a "Stated First Edition," consistent with the Fantasy Press house practice documented by Quill & Brush
• As with other Fantasy Press titles the printing was divided into two issues: a limited issue of 500 copies, hand-numbered and signed by Williamson on an integral limitation leaf, and an unsigned trade issue lacking that leaf — both are the 1947 first edition
• Physical points corroborated across dealers: publisher's green cloth with the spine stamped in gilt, bright pink/fuchsia illustrated (decorated) endpapers, and jacket, frontispiece, interior plates and chapter-head letters by A. J. Donnell; the pictorial jacket should be priced at the flap
• The jacket's pink spine panel fades badly with light exposure, so an unfaded spine panel is the exception rather than the rule and a faded one is not evidence of a later issue

How Fantasy Press marked a first edition

• Trade first edition: copyright page typically without later-printing notation; check against the known single print run (~3,000 copies)
• Signed/limited state is identified by a tipped-in or bound-in 'limitation leaf' after the title page, stating the limitation number and signed by the author (anywhere from ~250 to 500 numbered/signed copies per title)

Full Fantasy Press 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 original and the true first book edition; the census claim is correct. It was preceded only by the magazine serial in Astounding Stories (1934), which the book text follows. There is no early competing British edition — the first British publication is a Sphere paperback in 1977, thirty years later — so no UK-vs-US precedence question arises. Williamson was a Portales, New Mexico author, and this was his first appearance between hard covers.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

The most dangerous reprint tell for this title is the First Edition Library (Shelton, Connecticut) facsimile, a page-for-page reproduction of the 1947 Fantasy Press edition that reproduces the original copyright page — including its "First Edition" statement. FEL facsimiles were issued in an illustrated paper-covered slipcase/box and carry an FEL facsimile notice; the presence of the slipcase, or of any FEL identification, marks the copy as a modern facsimile rather than a 1947 Fantasy Press sheet. Separately, Quill & Brush notes Fantasy Press's "First Edition" statement was sometimes left standing on offset reprints bearing other publishers' imprints, so the imprint must always be read alongside the statement.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Legion of Space a first edition?

A first edition of The Legion of Space by Jack Williamson (Fantasy Press) is identified by: First book edition: Fantasy Press, Reading, Pennsylvania, 1947 — Williamson's first book.

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 original and the true first book edition; the census claim is correct.

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

The most dangerous reprint tell for this title is the First Edition Library (Shelton, Connecticut) facsimile, a page-for-page reproduction of the 1947 Fantasy Press edition that reproduces the original copyright page — including its "First Edition" statement. FEL facsimiles were issued in an illustrated paper-covered slipcase/box and carry an FEL facsimile notice; the presence of the slipcase, or of any FEL identification, marks the copy as a modern facsimile rather than a 1947 Fantasy Press she

I have a first edition of The Legion of Space — 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.