Is My The Tennis Court Oath a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Wesleyan University Press, Middletown CT, 1962, in the Wesleyan Poetry Program; octavo, 94 pages, collecting 30 poems
• Ashbery's second trade book
• The controlling point is the copyright-page statement: Wesleyan stated "First Edition" or "First Printing" on the copyright page and noted subsequent printings, and ABAA-catalogued 1962 copies are described as "first edition stated." Issued simultaneously in two formats — a clothbound issue in publisher's grey cloth over boards, lettered on the spine, in a pictorial dust jacket, and a softcover issue in pictorial printed wrappers
• The cloth issue is markedly the scarcer of the two
• Jackets on the cloth issue are priced at the flap; some copies carry a publisher's revised price sticker laid over the original printed price, which is a publisher's-issue feature rather than a later state
• CAUTION — the jacket and spine-stamping color descriptions in wide circulation (red and black spine stamping; jacket in black and salmon pink) are drawn from a catalogued 1968 third printing and have not been independently confirmed against a collated 1962 first printing; do not rely on jacket color as a first-printing point

How Wesleyan University Press, Middletown, Connecticut marked a first edition

• DISTINCTIVE older tell: pre-1980s Wesleyan books often carry a numeral in parentheses or brackets at the FOOT OF THE LAST PAGE — '(1)' = first printing, '(2)' = second printing, etc. — sometimes in place of a copyright-p…

Full Wesleyan University Press, Middletown, Connecticut 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. 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. 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?

US only. Wesleyan University Press, Middletown CT, 1962 is the true first, issued simultaneously in cloth and in wrappers; no separate British edition of The Tennis Court Oath from this period is documented, and the volume remained in print through Wesleyan. The census claim of US-only precedence and dual cloth/wrappers issue is confirmed.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition documented. Wesleyan noted subsequent printings on the copyright page, so later printings are identified by a printing statement replacing or supplementing the first-edition designation — a catalogued 1968 third printing in the same grey cloth circulates and is regularly mistaken for the first. Because the cloth binding was continued unchanged across printings, binding alone will not distinguish a first; the copyright page must be checked.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Tennis Court Oath a first edition?

A first edition of The Tennis Court Oath by John Ashbery (Wesleyan University Press, Middletown, Connecticut) is identified by: Wesleyan University Press, Middletown CT, 1962, in the Wesleyan Poetry Program; octavo, 94 pages, collecting 30 poems.

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 only.

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

No book-club edition documented. Wesleyan noted subsequent printings on the copyright page, so later printings are identified by a printing statement replacing or supplementing the first-edition designation — a catalogued 1968 third printing in the same grey cloth circulates and is regularly mistaken for the first. Because the cloth binding was continued unchanged across printings, binding alone will not distinguish a first; the copyright page must be checked.

I have a first edition of The Tennis Court Oath — 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.