Is My The Opening of the Field a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Grove Press, New York, October 1960, issued as a Grove Press Evergreen Original — a trade paperback original in glossy illustrated wrappers, octavo, 96 pages, 21 cm
• Duncan's first book with a trade publisher
• Cover design by Roy Kuhlman; frontispiece artwork by Jess (Duncan's partner), whose inclusion Duncan insisted upon and over which an earlier Macmillan agreement collapsed; the title and author's name are set in what is believed to be Duncan's own hand
• The controlling point is the copyright page: Grove Press always noted first editions and subsequent printings on the copyright page in this period, and ABAA-catalogued first printings are described as 'first printing (stated).' A stated first printing on the copyright page is the identification; absence of the statement, or any later printing statement, rules the copy out
• The book is catalogued as Bertholf A11 in Robert J. Bertholf's descriptive bibliography of Duncan
• CAUTION — wrapper coloring is described inconsistently by cataloguers (white and pastel blue; white and grey glossy); do not use wrapper color as a decisive point

How Grove Press, New York 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, 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. 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 only for the true first: Grove Press, New York, 1960, in wrappers. The first English edition is Jonathan Cape, London, 1969 — a hardcover in marbled paper-covered boards with brown gilt backstrip, some nine years later and well subordinate to the Grove printing; an uncorrected proof of that Cape edition also circulates. A dealer record dating the Cape edition to 1960 is an outlier and is contradicted by ABAA cataloguing and by the presence of an ISBN (0224616270) on the Cape volume, which is inconsistent with a 1960 imprint. The census claim of US-only precedence is confirmed.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition documented. Two reprint traps: the Jonathan Cape (London) 1969 hardcover, which is a first-thus (first English edition) and is regularly mis-offered as a first edition on the strength of its hardcover binding; and the New Directions paperbook reissue (ISBN 0811204804), which is a later trade edition. Later Grove printings are identified by the printing statement on the copyright page. Grove's own dust jackets, where present on other titles, carry letter codes on the rear panel for later jacket printings — first-printing jackets lack the code.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Opening of the Field a first edition?

A first edition of The Opening of the Field by Robert Duncan (Grove Press, New York) is identified by: Grove Press, New York, October 1960, issued as a Grove Press Evergreen Original — a trade paperback original in glossy illustrated wrappers, octavo, 96 pages, 21 cm.

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 only for the true first: Grove Press, New York, 1960, in wrappers.

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

No book-club edition documented. Two reprint traps: the Jonathan Cape (London) 1969 hardcover, which is a first-thus (first English edition) and is regularly mis-offered as a first edition on the strength of its hardcover binding; and the New Directions paperbook reissue (ISBN 0811204804), which is a later trade edition. Later Grove printings are identified by the printing statement on the copyright page. Grove's own dust jackets, where present on other titles, carry letter codes on the rear pan

I have a first edition of The Opening of the Field — 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.