Is My The Pigman a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Published 12 October 1968 by Harper & Row, New York
• Zindel's first book
• The first printing states "FIRST EDITION" on the copyright page AND carries Harper's two-letter printing code, in which the first letter is the month (A=January through M=December, skipping J) and the second letter is the year — S = 1968, the final year the code was used
• 8vo, in full-colour pictorial boards with the publisher's full-colour pictorial dust jacket, which should be present and priced at the flap
• The statement alone is not sufficient: Harper & Row added number lines from 1969 and frequently failed to delete the "FIRST EDITION" slug from later printings, so the code must be checked and no number line should be present
• Caveat for the record: no dealer listing consulted transcribes the actual code letters in a copy of this title, so verify the code against the year-letter S rule in hand rather than assuming a specific pairing

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. 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 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?

The US Harper & Row edition (New York, 1968) is the true first; no simultaneous or prior UK edition is documented in the sources consulted, and British issues postdate it, so there is no meaningful UK-vs-US precedence contest. Only the US edition is named because no competing first is attested. Later HarperCollins reprints, including the 2005 issue, are reprints and not "first thus" candidates.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Harper issued a library/institutional binding under the Harper Crest imprint in pictorial boards without a dust jacket — this is not the trade first and is commonly offered as a first edition; ex-library markings and the absence of an issued jacket are the tells. The key reprint trap is post-1969 Harper printings that retain the "FIRST EDITION" statement while adding a number line at the end of the book or on the copyright page. Harper Trophy, Bantam, and Dell paperbacks are reprints.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Pigman a first edition?

A first edition of The Pigman by Paul Zindel (Harper & Row) is identified by: Published 12 October 1968 by Harper & Row, New York; Zindel's first book.

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 US Harper & Row edition (New York, 1968) is the true first; no simultaneous or prior UK edition is documented in the sources consulted, and British issues postdate it, so there is no meaningful UK-vs-US precedence contest.

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

Harper issued a library/institutional binding under the Harper Crest imprint in pictorial boards without a dust jacket — this is not the trade first and is commonly offered as a first edition; ex-library markings and the absence of an issued jacket are the tells. The key reprint trap is post-1969 Harper printings that retain the "FIRST EDITION" statement while adding a number line at the end of the book or on the copyright page. Harper Trophy, Bantam, and Dell paperbacks are reprints.

I have a first edition of The Pigman — 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.