Is My The White Album a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The first printing of the first US edition is identified by a complete descending-from-one number line — the full row 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 present on the copyright page; any copy missing the 1 is a later printing
• Simon & Schuster had adopted a number row by the early 1970s, so the number line, not a printing statement, is the governing point for this title
• Binding is publisher's quarter black cloth over red boards, 223/224 pp. depending on how the terminal leaves are counted
• Issued in a color pictorial dust jacket designed by Robert Anthony; refer to a priced jacket with the price present at the front flap, as clipped jackets are common
• Light sunning to the top edge of the front board is typical of the first printing and is a condition trait rather than an issue point

How Simon & Schuster marked a first edition

• ERA 3 — Number-line introduction (mid-1973–1980): S&S adopted a copyright-page number line. Read the lowest number present: a line whose lowest digit is 1 is a first printing (e.g. '1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10' or the descendin…
• CROSS-CHECK across all number-line eras: A 1-bearing number line is frequently paired with a spelled-out first-issue statement (which may read 'First Printing' OR 'First Edition' — both occur at S&S). When a positive sta…

Full 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 census claim is confirmed: the true first is the US edition, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1979. The first UK edition, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 1979 (ISBN 0297777025, 222 pp.), followed and used the same jacket design; it is collected as the first English edition but does not have precedence. US priority is the collecting point.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club printing of the 1979 Simon & Schuster issue is documented in the sources consulted; the number line is the reliable discriminator, since later Simon & Schuster printings and the Farrar, Straus and Giroux/Noonday reissues drop the low digits or carry a different imprint entirely.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The White Album a first edition?

A first edition of The White Album by Joan Didion (Simon & Schuster) is identified by: The first printing of the first US edition is identified by a complete descending-from-one number line — the full row 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 present on the copyright page; any copy 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). The census claim is confirmed: the true first is the US edition, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1979.

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

No book-club printing of the 1979 Simon & Schuster issue is documented in the sources consulted; the number line is the reliable discriminator, since later Simon & Schuster printings and the Farrar, Straus and Giroux/Noonday reissues drop the low digits or carry a different imprint entirely.

I have a first edition of The White Album — 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.