Is My The Unnamable (L'Innommable) a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The true first is the French-language 'L'Innommable,' Les Éditions de Minuit, Paris, 1953, in the customary printed wrappers (broché, in-8), with 'achevé d'imprimer le 20 mai 1953' in the colophon; a small large-paper issue of 50 numbered copies on vélin supérieur constitutes the only limited state (Federman & Fletcher)
• The first English-language edition is 'The Unnamable,' Grove Press, New York, 1958, in Beckett's own translation, issued in gray quarter cloth and boards lettered in gilt with a priced dust jacket (Federman & Fletcher 377) and, generally regarded as simultaneous, the Evergreen Original E-117 wrappers
• The clothbound Grove trade issue is scarce, especially in jacket

How to confirm the first-printing statement

Publishers stated first printings differently by era. The decisive tells are a printed “First Edition/First Printing” statement, a number line whose lowest number is 1 (Random House ends at 2), or a dated first printing with no later printings listed. Paste your copyright page into the number-line decoder.

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 British 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?

Original-language precedence: the French Minuit (Paris) 1953 edition is the true first of the work. The Grove Press (New York) 1958 English translation is the first edition in English and is separately collected; the first British edition followed from John Calder (London), 1959. Do not treat any English printing as the true first of the text.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition documented. Later Grove printings and the repeatedly reprinted Evergreen paperback are not first printings; the collected first is the 1953 Minuit wrappers and, in English, the 1958 Grove clothbound trade issue in jacket.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Unnamable (L'Innommable) a first edition?

A first edition of The Unnamable (L'Innommable) by Samuel Beckett (Les Éditions de Minuit) is identified by: The true first is the French-language 'L'Innommable,' Les Éditions de Minuit, Paris, 1953, in the customary printed wrappers (broché, in-8), with 'achevé d'imprimer le 20 mai 1953' in the colophon; a small large-paper issue of 50 numbered copies on vélin supérieur constitutes the only limited state (Federman & Fletcher).

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. Original-language precedence: the French Minuit (Paris) 1953 edition is the true first of the work.

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

No book-club edition documented. Later Grove printings and the repeatedly reprinted Evergreen paperback are not first printings; the collected first is the 1953 Minuit wrappers and, in English, the 1958 Grove clothbound trade issue in jacket.

I have a first edition of The Unnamable (L'Innommable) — 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.