Is My The Things They Carried a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First trade edition (Houghton Mifflin / Seymour Lawrence, Boston, 1990): ISBN 0-395-51598-X; 8vo, [14], 273, [1] pp; first printing carries the full number line 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 on the copyright page — any line missing the 1 is a later printing
• The jacket has two states and the first-issue jacket is the point: the spine title is printed slightly off-centre / off-register, '0390' appears at the foot of the front jacket flap, and there is no jacket-design credit on the flap; the second-issue jacket has the spine printing correctly centred
• Price present at the flap on the trade issue
• Franklin Library issue (Franklin Center, 1990): full brown leather, gilt-stamped soldier device to spine and covers, hubbed spine, all edges gilt, satin ribbon marker, colour frontispiece; signed by O'Brien, and — the substantive point — it contains an introduction by O'Brien that is not present in the trade edition

How Houghton Mifflin / Seymour Lawrence, Boston marked a first edition

• Merger-lineage window (Hurd & Houghton 1864 → Houghton, Osgood & Co. 1878–1880 → Houghton, Mifflin & Co. from 1880): still no 'First Edition' wording; identify by title-page date matching the copyright date, by the earli…
• Late-19th to mid-20th century (c.1880s–1950s): the operative tell is the title page. Houghton Mifflin almost invariably printed the year of first publication, in Arabic numerals, on the title page of a first printing and…

Full Houghton Mifflin / Seymour Lawrence, Boston 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 UK 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?

CENSUS CLAIM CORRECTED. The census names Houghton Mifflin/Seymour Lawrence as the first without qualification, but two independent dealers state the Franklin Library signed edition was issued before the trade edition — Rulon-Miller Books catalogues the Houghton Mifflin explicitly as 'first trade edition. A signed edition was previously issued by the Franklin Library,' and dealer consensus on the Franklin Library issue describes it as preceding all other editions. Charles Agvent (ABAA) independently confirms the Franklin Library issue carries an author's introduction absent from the trade edition, which corroborates that it is a distinct issue rather than a reprint. Treat the Franklin Library (Franklin Center, 1990) as the probable true first and the Houghton Mifflin/Seymour Lawrence (Boston, 1990) as the first trade edition; both are collected, and the trade first is the copy the market generally means. The census is correct on UK precedence: Collins (London, 1990, ISBN 0-00-223603-6) followed the American edition and is the first UK edition, not the first.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No trade book-club variant is documented for this title in the sources consulted. The Franklin Library leatherbound is a separate signed issue, not a book-club reprint, and should not be described as one. Reprint tell for the trade edition: a number line no longer ending in 1. Jacket tell: a centred spine title marks the second-issue jacket, which is frequently married to first-printing sheets.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Things They Carried a first edition?

A first edition of The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien (Houghton Mifflin / Seymour Lawrence, Boston) is identified by: First trade edition (Houghton Mifflin / Seymour Lawrence, Boston, 1990): ISBN 0-395-51598-X; 8vo, [14], 273, [1] pp; first printing carries the full number line 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 on the copyright page — any line missing the 1 is a later printing.

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 CORRECTED.

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

No trade book-club variant is documented for this title in the sources consulted. The Franklin Library leatherbound is a separate signed issue, not a book-club reprint, and should not be described as one. Reprint tell for the trade edition: a number line no longer ending in 1. Jacket tell: a centred spine title marks the second-issue jacket, which is frequently married to first-printing sheets.

I have a first edition of The Things They Carried — 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.