Is My The Old Gringo a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First English edition, translated by Margaret Sayers Peden with the author: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, October 1985, octavo, 199 pages
• Bound in white cloth spine over burnt-orange paper-covered boards, stamped in gilt, in the publisher's decorated dust jacket whose printed price should be present on the flap
• A translation of 'Gringo viejo'; the novel is built around the disappearance of the American writer Ambrose Bierce during the Mexican Revolution, and was noted as the first novel by a Mexican author to become a US bestseller
• Signed copies exist

How Farrar, Straus & Giroux, New York marked a first edition

• ERA 1 - Farrar, Straus and Company (founding, c.1945/46-1950): No number line and no consistent 'First Edition' statement. Identify a first printing by the stylized interlocked 'FS' publisher's device on the copyright pa…
• ERA 3 - Farrar, Straus and Cudahy (1953-1963): Imprint line reads 'Farrar, Straus and Cudahy' after the 1953 Pellegrini & Cudahy merger. First printings state 'First Printing (year)' or 'First Published (year)' on the co…

Full Farrar, Straus & Giroux, New York first-edition guide →

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. 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.
4. 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 true first edition is the Spanish 'Gringo viejo' (Fondo de Cultura Económica, Mexico, 1985). The English Farrar, Straus & Giroux edition appeared in 1985 as well; the Spanish is generally cited as the true first, and some sources place the English translation in the year following the Spanish. The English text differs from the Spanish in wording and chapter count, reflecting the author's collaboration on the translation.P-004117

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Later Harper and Farrar, Straus paperbacks (including the FSG Classics reissue) are reprints, not the 1985 white-cloth-and-orange-boards cloth first.P-004118

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Old Gringo a first edition?

A first edition of The Old Gringo by Carlos Fuentes (trans. Margaret Sayers Peden & the author) (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, New York) is identified by: First English edition, translated by Margaret Sayers Peden with the author: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, October 1985, octavo, 199 pages.

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 true first edition is the Spanish 'Gringo viejo' (Fondo de Cultura Económica, Mexico, 1985).

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

Later Harper and Farrar, Straus paperbacks (including the FSG Classics reissue) are reprints, not the 1985 white-cloth-and-orange-boards cloth first.

I have a first edition of The Old Gringo — 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.