Is My Copy of The Sword of the Lictor a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First printings are identified by a complete number line descending to 1 ('10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1') on the copyright page; the presence of the 1 is the point, and there is no separate printing statement to rely on
• The publisher's binding is quarter maroon/red cloth over blue paper-covered boards, in the Don Maitz illustrated dust jacket, with the price present at the front flap on an unclipped example (ISBN 0-671-43595-7)
• Note a real catalogue trap: a number of records date the Timescape hardcover 1981 rather than 1982 under the same ISBN — treat the number line, not the catalogue date, as the printing evidence
• Descriptions of the spine lettering differ (silver in most, black in a minority), so lettering colour should not be used as a decisive point

How Timescape Books / Simon & Schuster marked a first edition

• ERA 4 — The signature non-sequential line (1981–present): S&S's hallmark line is the scrambled sequence '1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2'. The rule is presence-of-lowest-number, NOT last-digit: if 1 is present (as the lowest…

Full Timescape Books / Simon & Schuster first-edition guide →

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. 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.
4. Verify this is the US 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?

The US Timescape/Simon & Schuster hardcover, New York, is the true first, published January 1982; the UK first is Sidgwick & Jackson, London, May 1982 (ISBN 0-283-98860-6), in a wraparound jacket by Bruce Pennington. Both are collected, and the UK is a genuinely scarce book in its own right, but the US precedes it by roughly four months. US precedence stands.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No separate book-club printing of the individual Timescape volume was documented in the sources consulted. Beware 'first thus' omnibus traps rather than club editions: the two-volume Sword & Citadel-style collections and the Science Fiction Book Club one-volume Book of the New Sun omnibus (1998) reprint this text and are not the first. Timescape/Pocket also issued a paperback, which is not the first edition.P-043921

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Sword of the Lictor a first edition?

A first edition of The Sword of the Lictor by Gene Wolfe (Timescape Books / Simon & Schuster) is identified by: First printings are identified by a complete number line descending to 1 ('10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1') on the copyright page; the presence of the 1 is the point, and there is no separate printing statement to rely on.

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). The US Timescape/Simon & Schuster hardcover, New York, is the true first, published January 1982; the UK first is Sidgwick & Jackson, London, May 1982 (ISBN 0-283-98860-6), in a wraparound jacket by Bruce Pennington.

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

No separate book-club printing of the individual Timescape volume was documented in the sources consulted. Beware 'first thus' omnibus traps rather than club editions: the two-volume Sword & Citadel-style collections and the Science Fiction Book Club one-volume Book of the New Sun omnibus (1998) reprint this text and are not the first. Timescape/Pocket also issued a paperback, which is not the first edition.

I have a first edition of The Sword of the Lictor — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and decode the printing with the free First Edition Checker. Clearing out books? I take them as a free donation and make sure collectible copies are identified, not discarded: free pickup in the Albuquerque metro (scheduled by route), the 24/7 drop box at 5445 Edith Blvd NE, or donor-paid mail-in from anywhere in the US. Questions? Call or text 505-250-3804.

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.