Is My Three Lives a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First edition, first issue: The Grafton Press, New York, 1909, 279 pp
• Stein paid for the printing herself — Grafton was a subsidy/vanity house — and 1,000 copies were printed
• Bound in publisher's dark blue to blue-black vertically-ribbed cloth, titling in gilt on the front cover and the spine; issued without a dust jacket, so a jacketed copy dated 1909 warrants close scrutiny
• Standard reference is Wilson A1a (Robert A. Wilson, Gertrude Stein: A Bibliography, 1994)
• The identification rests on the Grafton Press title leaf being integral and original — not a cancel — because the sheets of this same printing were later re-used for the British issue

How The Grafton Press 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 The Grafton Press 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 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?

US Grafton Press, New York, 1909 is the true first and the only edition to collect as such; the census claim is confirmed on precedence but its framing of the 1915 John Lane as a 'UK edition' is misleading and is corrected here. Roughly 700 copies went to the American market; about 300 sets of the same unsold 1909 Grafton sheets were made up for John Lane in London in 1915 with a cancel title leaf, retaining the Grafton binding and the Grafton imprint at the foot of the spine. The 1915 British issue is therefore a re-issue of American first-edition sheets, not a separate edition or a true second edition.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue is documented for the 1909 Grafton printing. The later editions are the traps and are all 'first thus': John Lane, London and New York, 1920; John Rodker, London, 1927; and the New Directions issue of 1933 onward. Per Le Bookiniste (citing Wilson A1e), copies in dust jacket are effectively unobtainable before the 1927 Rodker issue — a useful negative check on any jacketed copy claimed as early.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Three Lives a first edition?

A first edition of Three Lives by Gertrude Stein (The Grafton Press) is identified by: First edition, first issue: The Grafton Press, New York, 1909, 279 pp.

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. US Grafton Press, New York, 1909 is the true first and the only edition to collect as such; the census claim is confirmed on precedence but its framing of the 1915 John Lane as a 'UK edition' is misleading and is corrected here.

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

No book-club issue is documented for the 1909 Grafton printing. The later editions are the traps and are all 'first thus': John Lane, London and New York, 1920; John Rodker, London, 1927; and the New Directions issue of 1933 onward. Per Le Bookiniste (citing Wilson A1e), copies in dust jacket are effectively unobtainable before the 1927 Rodker issue — a useful negative check on any jacketed copy claimed as early.

I have a first edition of Three Lives — 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.