Is My The Snow-Image and Other Twice-Told Tales a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First edition, published by Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, Boston (title page dated 1852, though the copyright page carries an 1851 date), in a printing of 2,425 copies issued simultaneously with a London edition
• Collates [3]-273 pp., 8vo; the true first printing carries the earliest (January 1852) state of the publisher's advertisement catalogue bound in at front
• Bound in publisher's ribbed brown cloth ('style A'), covers stamped in blind, spine lettered in gold and stamped in blind, with yellow coated endpapers
• Contains fifteen tales, including 'The Snow-Image,' 'The Great Stone Face,' 'Main Street,' and 'Ethan Brand' in their first book appearances

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. 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?

Though dated 1852 on its title page, the Boston (Ticknor, Reed, and Fields) sheets were released within days of Henry G. Bohn's London edition, whose title page is dated 1851; the two are generally treated as issued essentially simultaneously in December 1851, with the Boston printing not clearly following the London one despite their differing title-page years.P-034493

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Later Ticknor and Fields reprintings, along with Victorian-era anthology series that regrouped short fiction by theme, do not reproduce the original 1852 ribbed-cloth binding or the dated January 1852 ad catalogue.P-034494

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Snow-Image and Other Twice-Told Tales a first edition?

A first edition of The Snow-Image and Other Twice-Told Tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne (Ticknor, Reed, and Fields) is identified by: First edition, published by Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, Boston (title page dated 1852, though the copyright page carries an 1851 date), in a printing of 2,425 copies issued simultaneously with a London edition.

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. Though dated 1852 on its title page, the Boston (Ticknor, Reed, and Fields) sheets were released within days of Henry G.

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

Later Ticknor and Fields reprintings, along with Victorian-era anthology series that regrouped short fiction by theme, do not reproduce the original 1852 ribbed-cloth binding or the dated January 1852 ad catalogue.

I have a first edition of The Snow-Image and Other Twice-Told Tales — 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.