Is My The Seven Storey Mountain a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The decisive first-printing point is the imprimatur error "Ex Parte Ordnis" (for "Ex Parte Ordinis") on the verso of the third leaf, with the Nihil obstat and Imprimi potest; later printings correct it to "Ex Parte Ordinis." The first-state dust jacket carries the photo caption "...The author is second from the left" and is priced at the front flap (price present at the flap), with the back flap noting the 1948 Catholic Press Association poetry award; the photographer credit "Daniel Frances Connell" is absent from the first and second printings
• Most copies are in black cloth with black spine lettering; a limited number were bound in off-white cloth
• Confirmed against two independent sources (Thomas Merton Center and a dealer description), both citing Patricia Burton's bibliography "More Than Silence."

How Harcourt, Brace and Company marked a first edition

• 1919-1921 (Harcourt, Brace & Howe): number '1' on copyright page = first printing, '2' = second, etc.
• 1921-1931: no statement on first printings; the first-edition notice (when later adopted) was simply absent, so rely on no later-printing notice.

Full Harcourt, Brace and Company 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. Verify this is the US true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
4. 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.
5. 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 true first: Harcourt, Brace, New York, 1948 (published October 1948). The UK edition appeared the following year in an ABRIDGED text as "Elected Silence" (Hollis & Carter, London, 1949, edited by Evelyn Waugh) — a different, cut version, not the true first. Census note is correct.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

The title was taken by three book clubs and reprinted heavily; book-club copies typically lack the priced first-state jacket and correct the "Ordnis" error. Beware early-2000s counterfeit white-cloth copies (unnaturally bright paper; block measures ~33×210 mm versus ~35×208 mm on authentic copies), per the Merton Center warning.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Seven Storey Mountain a first edition?

A first edition of The Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton (Harcourt, Brace and Company) is identified by: The decisive first-printing point is the imprimatur error "Ex Parte Ordnis" (for "Ex Parte Ordinis") on the verso of the third leaf, with the Nihil obstat and Imprimi potest; later printings correct it to "Ex Parte Ordinis." The first-state dust jacket carries the photo caption "...The author is second from the left" and is priced at the front flap (price present at the flap), with the back flap noting the 1948 Catholic Press Association poetry award; the photographer credit "Daniel…

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 true first: Harcourt, Brace, New York, 1948 (published October 1948).

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

The title was taken by three book clubs and reprinted heavily; book-club copies typically lack the priced first-state jacket and correct the "Ordnis" error. Beware early-2000s counterfeit white-cloth copies (unnaturally bright paper; block measures ~33×210 mm versus ~35×208 mm on authentic copies), per the Merton Center warning.

I have a first edition of The Seven Storey Mountain — 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.