Is My The Master and Margarita (Master i Margarita) a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The point of issue is a genuine textual/translation split, not printings — two different 1967 English translations
• Mirra Ginsburg's translation, Grove Press, New York, 1967 (stated first edition, first printing; octavo, 402 pp), made from the shortened/censored 'Moskva' magazine text
• Michael Glenny's translation, issued the same year by Collins & Harvill (London) — the first UK edition — and by Harper & Row (New York), made from a fuller, less-censored text that restores passages the Soviet censor cut
• Identify by the translator credit on the title page: Ginsburg = Grove (shorter)
• Glenny = Collins & Harvill / Harper & Row (fuller)

How Grove Press marked a first edition

• First editions and later printings are noted on the copyright page; the modern practice uses a number row/printer's key, with the presence of '1' (or the lowest digit) indicating a first printing.
• Grove added a number row around 1969 (initially on the last page before the rear free endpaper, later on the copyright page) but often failed to remove a 'First Edition' statement from reprints — so a 'First Edition' lin…

Full Grove 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. 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?

First English is 1967 in two competing states, each the first of its own text: Grove/Ginsburg (shorter, censored 'Moskva' text) versus Collins & Harvill and Harper & Row/Glenny (fuller text). Which physically appeared first is disputed and not the collecting point — the translator and text are. Neither is the complete text: the full Russian book followed later (Posev, Frankfurt, 1969; full Soviet text 1973), and the first fully complete English translation is Burgin & O'Connor 1995.P-037038

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Specify translator and publisher. Do NOT assume Harper & Row = Ginsburg: Harper & Row's 1967 is the Glenny (fuller) text, while Ginsburg's shorter text is the Grove issue. The censorship-driven textual difference is the key point of issue; later printings carry number lines.P-037039

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Master and Margarita (Master i Margarita) a first edition?

A first edition of The Master and Margarita (Master i Margarita) by Mikhail Bulgakov (Grove Press) is identified by: The point of issue is a genuine textual/translation split, not printings — two different 1967 English translations.

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. First English is 1967 in two competing states, each the first of its own text: Grove/Ginsburg (shorter, censored 'Moskva' text) versus Collins & Harvill and Harper & Row/Glenny (fuller text).

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

Specify translator and publisher. Do NOT assume Harper & Row = Ginsburg: Harper & Row's 1967 is the Glenny (fuller) text, while Ginsburg's shorter text is the Grove issue. The censorship-driven textual difference is the key point of issue; later printings carry number lines.

I have a first edition of The Master and Margarita (Master i Margarita) — 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.