Is My The Soft Machine a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Olympia Press, Paris, Traveller's Companion Series No
• 88, 1961, issued in the series' green printed paper wrappers with the wrapper design by Brion Gysin (the book was issued in wrappers only, not in a dust jacket)
• The first issue is identified by the original '15' New Francs price printed on the lower rear wrapper
• Later copies of the same sheets were overstamped 'New Price NF 18' over that original price following the January 1960 revaluation of the franc, so a clean, unstamped '15 NF' rear wrapper is the first-issue point
• The text runs to about 182 pages in fifty short chapters, colour-coded into four 'Units' — a heavily fragmented arrangement unique to this Olympia setting

How The Olympia Press marked a first edition

• 1953–1965 (Paris, under Maurice Girodias): titles were issued in printed paper wrappers, not cloth. The Traveller's Companion Series appeared in plain green text-only wrappers, each bearing a series number. A first print…
• Olympia Press New York (Girodias's mid-to-late 1960s revival) used US paperback and hardcover formats; first printings carry an explicit 'first printing' statement or a number line where one is present. These are a separ…

Full The Olympia Press 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?

Olympia Paris (1961) is the true world first. The US Grove edition (1966) and UK Calder edition are substantially REVISED texts — true 'first thus' rather than reprints, since Burroughs heavily reworked the cut-up material. The Olympia 1961 four-Unit text differs markedly from the reorganized later versions and has never been reissued in that original form.P-033786

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book club. The major trap is that the Grove (1966) and Calder editions are revised, not identical reprints; the Olympia No. 88 1961 in green wrappers with the unstamped '15 NF' rear price is the only true first of the original text.P-033787

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Soft Machine a first edition?

A first edition of The Soft Machine by William S. Burroughs (The Olympia Press) is identified by: Olympia Press, Paris, Traveller's Companion Series No.

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. Olympia Paris (1961) is the true world first.

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

No book club. The major trap is that the Grove (1966) and Calder editions are revised, not identical reprints; the Olympia No. 88 1961 in green wrappers with the unstamped '15 NF' rear price is the only true first of the original text.

I have a first edition of The Soft Machine — 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.