Is My These 13 a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Trade first printing: no printing statement on the copyright page — later printings are stated, and a stated third printing dated October 1931 is recorded — and the table of contents carries the first-state error listing "Hair" at page 280 instead of the correct 208
• Bound in blue cloth with pictorial endpapers and a blue topstain; jacket designed by Arthur Hawkins
• The signed limited issue is 299 copies with the limitation leaf dated August 1931, ahead of the trade printing of 21 September 1931, so the signed issue is generally taken to precede
• In the limited issue the page numbers are set in italic and enclosed in brackets, where the trade issue prints them in roman type without brackets across all three of its printings — this is the cleanest separation of the two issues
• Dealers cite Bruccoli & Clark I:122

How Jonathan Cape & Harrison Smith marked a first edition

• First printings state "First published [Year]" or "First published in Great Britain [Year]" on the copyright page with NO additional impression lines and traditionally NO number line
• Later printings noted by added lines (e.g. 'Second impression [year]', 'Reprinted...') — their presence disqualifies a first

Full Jonathan Cape & Harrison Smith 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 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 confirmed. The true first is Jonathan Cape & Harrison Smith, New York, 1931 — Faulkner's first story collection and the first book appearance of "A Rose for Emily"; eight of the thirteen stories ("Victory", "Ad Astra", "All the Dead Pilots", "Crevasse", "A Justice", "Mistral", "Divorce in Naples", "Carcassonne") appear in print here for the first time. The first UK edition is Chatto & Windus, London, 1933, titled These Thirteen, in dark blue cloth with gilt spine lettering and a blue-green top edge, reported at 1,500 copies; it is collected as the English first but follows the American issue by two years. Note the title differs by market — These 13 in New York, These Thirteen in London — and catalogue entries mix the two freely.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue is documented for 1931. The working trap is the stated second and third trade printings: they match the first in binding and carry the same 1931 date, and are routinely offered as "first edition" on the strength of that date alone. The contents-page 280/208 error and the absence of any printing statement separate the first printing from them. The 299-copy signed issue is identified by its bracketed italic pagination and August 1931 limitation leaf, not by the trade points.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of These 13 a first edition?

A first edition of These 13 by William Faulkner (Jonathan Cape & Harrison Smith) is identified by: Trade first printing: no printing statement on the copyright page — later printings are stated, and a stated third printing dated October 1931 is recorded — and the table of contents carries the first-state error listing "Hair" at page 280 instead of the correct 208.

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. Census claim confirmed.

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

No book-club issue is documented for 1931. The working trap is the stated second and third trade printings: they match the first in binding and carry the same 1931 date, and are routinely offered as "first edition" on the strength of that date alone. The contents-page 280/208 error and the absence of any printing statement separate the first printing from them. The 299-copy signed issue is identified by its bracketed italic pagination and August 1931 limitation leaf, not by the trade points.

I have a first edition of These 13 — 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.