Is My The Miernik Dossier a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Collation [vi], 278 pages, octavo
• Quarter binding: publisher's boards with a red cloth backstrip lettered in gilt, and a red topstain to the text block — these binding points are corroborated across independent dealer descriptions and are the most reliable identifiers
• The jacket was issued with a wrap-around promotional band, which is frequently absent; a priced jacket with the price present at the front flap is expected on an unclipped copy
• Caution, stated honestly: no first-edition designation practice for the Saturday Review Press imprint is documented in the standard publisher references consulted (the Quill & Brush publisher list does not cover it), and dealers identify firsts by the 1973 date and the absence of later-printing wording rather than by any quoted statement or number line
• Rely on the binding, topstain, and collation; do not assert a copyright-page statement that is not documented

How Saturday Review Press marked a first edition

• c.1970-1973 (independent): First printings are most reliably identified by the absence of any later-printing or reprint statement on the copyright page. Do not rely on a number line as the primary signal for this short-l…

Full Saturday Review 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. 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?

The census claim holds. The true first is Saturday Review Press (New York), 1973 — McCarry's debut novel and the first appearance of Paul Christopher. The imprint was being absorbed by E. P. Dutton at this date, and some copies and catalogue records carry a conjoined Saturday Review Press / E. P. Dutton imprint; both represent the American first. The British first is Hutchinson (London), 1974, a year later; it is collected as the UK first and is identified by Hutchinson's stated practice of printing "First published (Year)" or "First published in Great Britain (Year)" on the copyright page.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue is documented in the sources consulted for the 1973 first. Standard American book-club tells apply to any suspect copy: a blind stamp (dot, circle, or square) impressed on the rear board, absence of a price at the jacket flap on an unclipped jacket, smaller trim size, and cheaper paper and board stock.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Miernik Dossier a first edition?

A first edition of The Miernik Dossier by Charles McCarry (Saturday Review Press) is identified by: Collation [vi], 278 pages, octavo.

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). The census claim holds.

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

No book-club issue is documented in the sources consulted for the 1973 first. Standard American book-club tells apply to any suspect copy: a blind stamp (dot, circle, or square) impressed on the rear board, absence of a price at the jacket flap on an unclipped jacket, smaller trim size, and cheaper paper and board stock.

I have a first edition of The Miernik Dossier — 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.