Is My The Road Through the Wall a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The first printing is identified by the publisher's stylized 'FS' monogram (colophon) on the copyright page; per the Quill & Brush guide, that device appears on Farrar, Straus first editions and no statement appears on subsequent printings — so a copy of this imprint lacking the FS colophon is a later printing
• Bound in the publisher's original orange boards with the spine lettered in white; octavo, 271 pp
• (Peter Harrington's catalogue and independent dealer descriptions corroborate the binding)
• The dust wrapper on a first-issue copy is unclipped, a priced jacket with the price present at the front flap; jackets are commonly found price-clipped, sometimes with a hand-stamped bookseller price replacing the original — a retail mark, not a printing point
• No first-state text error is documented for this title in the sources consulted

How Farrar, Straus and Company, 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…

Full Farrar, Straus and Company, 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?

The true first is the US Farrar, Straus and Company edition, New York, published February 1948 — Shirley Jackson's first book and first novel. No contemporary British edition has been traced in the sources consulted; the novel reached UK readers only through much later reprints (Penguin Modern Classics), which carry no precedence. Precedence is therefore uncomplicated: there is one first edition, the American, and the census note is correct.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue of the 1948 first is documented in the sources consulted. The reprint tell is the absence of the stylized FS colophon from the copyright page. Later paperback and Penguin Classics issues are reprints and are sometimes offered as 'first thus' — that phrase signals a new edition or new presentation of an old text, not a first edition, and is the common trap on this title.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Road Through the Wall a first edition?

A first edition of The Road Through the Wall by Shirley Jackson (Farrar, Straus and Company, New York) is identified by: The first printing is identified by the publisher's stylized 'FS' monogram (colophon) on the copyright page; per the Quill & Brush guide, that device appears on Farrar, Straus first editions and no statement appears on subsequent printings — so a copy of this imprint lacking the FS colophon is a later printing.

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 is the US Farrar, Straus and Company edition, New York, published February 1948 — Shirley Jackson's first book and first novel.

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

No book-club issue of the 1948 first is documented in the sources consulted. The reprint tell is the absence of the stylized FS colophon from the copyright page. Later paperback and Penguin Classics issues are reprints and are sometimes offered as 'first thus' — that phrase signals a new edition or new presentation of an old text, not a first edition, and is the common trap on this title.

I have a first edition of The Road Through the Wall — 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.