Is My Copy of The Loney a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Published 1 October 2014 by Tartarus Press in its standard house format: a sewn hardback of 278 pages, printed lithographically, with silk ribbon marker, head and tailbands, decorated boards and a dust jacket
• Each copy is signed by the author on the title page; the copies are unnumbered, so there is no limitation statement giving a copy number to check
• The publisher and multiple dealer descriptions state a limitation of 300 signed copies; some secondary reference works give 350 instead, and that figure is not supported by the publisher's own account, so 300 should be treated as the documented number
• Beware the recurring cataloguing error in which the 278-page count is transcribed as a copy count

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?

The Tartarus Press hardback (Coverdale, 1 October 2014) is the true first. The common state — and the copy nearly everyone means when they say "first edition of The Loney" — is the John Murray (London) trade edition of 2015, which followed the Costa First Novel Award attention and is a first thus, not the first. This is a textbook small-press-precedence trap: the John Murray printing is the widely distributed book, the Tartarus is the true first, and the two look nothing alike. No US edition precedes either; Houghton Mifflin Harcourt's American edition follows the John Murray.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition of the Tartarus issue is documented, and none would be expected of a signed small-press limitation. The reprint tells run the other way: the 2015 John Murray trade edition and subsequent paperback issues are frequently listed as "first edition" on the strength of a John Murray number line, which identifies only the first printing of the trade edition. A Tartarus copy is identified by the publisher's imprint, the 2014 date, the signature on the title page and the house binding specification; anything carrying a John Murray or Hodder imprint is a later edition regardless of what its number line says.P-041225

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Loney a first edition?

A first edition of The Loney by Andrew Michael Hurley (Tartarus Press, Coverdale) is identified by: Published 1 October 2014 by Tartarus Press in its standard house format: a sewn hardback of 278 pages, printed lithographically, with silk ribbon marker, head and tailbands, decorated boards and a dust jacket.

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. The Tartarus Press hardback (Coverdale, 1 October 2014) is the true first.

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

No book-club edition of the Tartarus issue is documented, and none would be expected of a signed small-press limitation. The reprint tells run the other way: the 2015 John Murray trade edition and subsequent paperback issues are frequently listed as "first edition" on the strength of a John Murray number line, which identifies only the first printing of the trade edition.

I have a first edition of The Loney — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and decode the printing with the free First Edition Checker. Clearing out books? I take them as a free donation and make sure collectible copies are identified, not discarded: free pickup in the Albuquerque metro (scheduled by route), the 24/7 drop box at 5445 Edith Blvd NE, or donor-paid mail-in from anywhere in the US. Questions? Call or text 505-250-3804.

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.