Is My The Second Sex (Le Deuxième Sexe) a First Edition?

The points of issue

• True first (French): Paris, Gallimard, 1949, in the Collection Blanche, two volumes published months apart — Tome I, 'Les Faits et les Mythes', and Tome II, 'L'Expérience vécue'; approx
• 15 x 21 cm, issued broché in printed wrappers
• Beyond the ordinary trade issue, the first edition includes a limited numbered issue: 2,000 numbered copies on alfa paper, above which sits the tirage de tête of 55 numbered copies on pur fil, the most limited deluxe issue; consulted sources give the limitation totals variously as 2,105 and 2,150, so the totals are not asserted here
• A publisher's decorated-cloth issue with binding designed by Mario Prassinos is also documented
• First English: 'The Second Sex', translated and edited by H. M. Parshley, New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1953 — a Borzoi book, quarto, collating xxx, 732, xiv pp., bound in green cloth lettered in blind over quarter dark blue cloth stamped in gilt, with 'FIRST AMERICAN EDITION' stated on the copyright page
• The Knopf jacket should be a priced jacket with the price present at the flap, unclipped being the desired state

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. 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 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?

Census claim substantially confirmed, with one date not asserted. The Gallimard two-volume French text of 1949 is the true first and the original-language edition. Knopf's 1953 New York edition is the first edition in English as well as the first American edition; the census gives February 1953, which the consulted sources do not corroborate to the month, so only the year is stated here. Jonathan Cape's London edition followed in October 1953, so the Knopf precedes it — note that one dealer describes the Cape as a 'simultaneous' edition, which the October dating does not support. Both English editions are collected, but the Knopf holds priority.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue is documented for the Knopf first. Two substantive traps outrank any club tell. First, the Parshley translation is not the complete text: at Knopf's direction Parshley condensed the French, cutting an estimated 10-15 percent, so every 1953 Knopf and Cape copy is an abridgement. The 2009 Borde and Malovany-Chevallier translation is the first unabridged English version and is a 'first thus', not a first edition. Second, on the French side the two volumes were published months apart and are frequently married into sets; each volume's issue and paper state should be checked independently. Later Gallimard printings and the Collection Folio and Idées paperback reissues are reprints.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Second Sex (Le Deuxième Sexe) a first edition?

A first edition of The Second Sex (Le Deuxième Sexe) by Simone de Beauvoir (Gallimard) is identified by: True first (French): Paris, Gallimard, 1949, in the Collection Blanche, two volumes published months apart — Tome I, 'Les Faits et les Mythes', and Tome II, 'L'Expérience vécue'; approx.

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. Census claim substantially confirmed, with one date not asserted.

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

No book-club issue is documented for the Knopf first. Two substantive traps outrank any club tell. First, the Parshley translation is not the complete text: at Knopf's direction Parshley condensed the French, cutting an estimated 10-15 percent, so every 1953 Knopf and Cape copy is an abridgement. The 2009 Borde and Malovany-Chevallier translation is the first unabridged English version and is a 'first thus', not a first edition. Second, on the French side the two volumes were published months ap

I have a first edition of The Second Sex (Le Deuxième Sexe) — 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.