Is My The Weirdstone of Brisingamen a First Edition?

The points of issue

• William Collins, Sons & Co., London, 1960 — Garner's first book, subtitled 'A Tale of Alderley', 224 pages, printed by the Collins Clear-Type Press
• First-edition copies are bound in blue cloth with the spine stamped in silver and have pictorial map endpapers; the endpaper maps and the pictorial dust jacket are the work of George Adamson
• Look for the price present at the front flap (unclipped) and a copyright page free of any later-impression statement
• The most substantive point is textual rather than physical: the 1960 sheets carry Garner's ORIGINAL text
• He revised the novel for the 1963 reprint — cutting extraneous clauses, adjectives and adverbs, altering hyphenation, and deleting whole passages (the final paragraph of Chapter 1 is gone in the revised text) — so every copy from 1963 onward carries the second text
• The 1960 first edition is the only first-edition appearance of the first text

How Collins marked a first edition

• First editions either carry NO additional printing statement on the copyright page or state "First published [Year]" — practice was not fully consistent, so confirm with jacket/ad dating
• Later printings noted with impression lines; their absence supports a first

Full Collins 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 American 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?

Collins, London, 1960 is the true first, and this is firmly confirmed. The census claim about the American edition is WRONG and is corrected here: no Franklin Watts 1961 US edition appears in any source consulted, including Open Library's holdings for the title. The first American edition is Henry Z. Walck, Inc., New York, 1969 — nine years after the British first, as one specialist children's-book dealer states outright ('issued 9 years before it was published in the US'). The Walck 1969 is the US collecting point; it is a distant second to the Collins and is not a rival for precedence.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Later Collins impressions, the 1963 revised-text reprint, the Puffin and Armada Lion paperbacks (the 1971 US paperback reverted to the 1960 text), the Fontana and Collins Voyager reissues, the Odyssey Classics / Magic Carpet / Turtleback US reprints, and the HarperCollins 2010 fiftieth-anniversary edition with Garner's new preface are all reprints or 'first thus.' Sagebrush rebounds and library rebinds are common and destroy the binding points. No 1960 book-club issue is documented in the sources consulted.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Weirdstone of Brisingamen a first edition?

A first edition of The Weirdstone of Brisingamen by Alan Garner (Collins) is identified by: William Collins, Sons & Co., London, 1960 — Garner's first book, subtitled 'A Tale of Alderley', 224 pages, printed by the Collins Clear-Type Press.

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. Collins, London, 1960 is the true first, and this is firmly confirmed.

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

Later Collins impressions, the 1963 revised-text reprint, the Puffin and Armada Lion paperbacks (the 1971 US paperback reverted to the 1960 text), the Fontana and Collins Voyager reissues, the Odyssey Classics / Magic Carpet / Turtleback US reprints, and the HarperCollins 2010 fiftieth-anniversary edition with Garner's new preface are all reprints or 'first thus.' Sagebrush rebounds and library rebinds are common and destroy the binding points. No 1960 book-club issue is documented in the source

I have a first edition of The Weirdstone of Brisingamen — 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.