Is My The Summer Tree a First Edition?

The points of issue

• True first is the McClelland & Stewart hardcover, Toronto, 1984 (ISBN 0-7710-4472-0), 323pp — the opening volume of the Fionavar Tapestry and Kay's first novel
• Identified by the M&S Toronto imprint and 1984 date, bound in blue (described by some dealers as turquoise) paper-covered boards with gilt titles to the spine and matching blue endpapers; jacket art by Martin Springett
• Priced jacket: price present at the flap, unclipped
• Honest limit: the sources consulted do not document a printing statement or number line for the M&S issue — identification rests on the imprint, date and binding
• The number-line point that circulates for this title ("full number line to 1") belongs to the US Arbor House printing, not to the Canadian first; several search summaries conflate the two, and that conflation should not be repeated

How McClelland & Stewart marked a first edition

• PRIMARY (era-dependent): M&S has no single universal first-printing convention; method depends on the period. For earlier/mid-century Canadian firsts, identify by the ABSENCE of any later-printing/number line on the copy…
• Modern titles (roughly 1990s-present): a printer's-key number line IS used; lowest digit indicates the printing, so a line ending in 1 (e.g. '1 2 3 4 5' or '5 4 3 2 1', sometimes with year digits) indicates a first print…

Full McClelland & Stewart first-edition guide →

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Read the number line — the lowest number is the printing. A line including 1 is a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2). Paste it into the decoder.
3. Verify this is the Canadian 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?

Census claim confirmed. The Canadian McClelland & Stewart hardcover (Toronto, 1984; catalogues and dealers give October 1984) is the true first and precedes both the first US edition — Arbor House, New York, 1985 (ISBN 0-87795-760-6, 323pp), whose first printing shows a full number line to 1 — and the first UK edition, George Allen & Unwin, London, 1985 (ISBN 0-04-823257-1). All three are collected, but dealers explicitly reserve "the true first edition" for the M&S. This is the same Canada-first precedence pattern as The Handmaid's Tale, and the trap is that US collectors routinely take the 1985 Arbor House for the first.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

A book-club issue of the US text is recorded. Club copies are identified in the usual way — no price at the jacket flap, club blind stamp to the rear board, smaller trim and lighter boards. Later "first thus" printings include the Unwin Paperbacks and ROC issues, the 2012 Harper Weekend Canadian edition, and the Grim Oak Press limited edition.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Summer Tree a first edition?

A first edition of The Summer Tree by Guy Gavriel Kay (McClelland & Stewart) is identified by: True first is the McClelland & Stewart hardcover, Toronto, 1984 (ISBN 0-7710-4472-0), 323pp — the opening volume of the Fionavar Tapestry and Kay's first novel.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A number line whose lowest number is 1 marks a first printing (Random House ends at 2). Census claim confirmed.

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

A book-club issue of the US text is recorded. Club copies are identified in the usual way — no price at the jacket flap, club blind stamp to the rear board, smaller trim and lighter boards. Later "first thus" printings include the Unwin Paperbacks and ROC issues, the 2012 Harper Weekend Canadian edition, and the Grim Oak Press limited edition.

I have a first edition of The Summer Tree — 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.