Is My Titus Groan a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First printing was 2,000 copies (Peake in Print A4a), which sold quickly enough that a second impression followed within the same year
• Page [1] reads 'THE LIFE OF TITUS GROAN'
• The title page carries a vignette (22 x 47mm) of a crown — the same crown used on the jacket, but with the chains in different positions and the bird looking right
• The half-title at p.[15] reads 'Part One / GORMENGHAST' above the quotation from Bunyan's verse Apology prefacing Pilgrim's Progress
• The first issue is bound in bright red cloth of FINE linen grain, 220 x 140mm, lettered in gilt across the spine; the second impression is a coarser-grained scarlet-vermilion in the same format, so grain — not colour alone — is the binding test
• The jacket is by Peake, lettered in red on the front panel and in black across the spine

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. 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 Eyre & Spottiswoode, London, March 1946 (UK reviews run from 22 March 1946). The Reynal & Hitchcock, New York edition of the same year does not precede it — Peake in Print designates it 'Second edition; first American' (A4b). Both editions are collected. The US edition is readily distinguished: greeny-grey cloth 215 x 143mm lettered in red across the spine; title page reading 'Titus / Groan / a gothic novel by / Mervyn / Peake' — the 'a gothic novel' subtitle is US-only, confirming the census note; copyright notice on the title verso naming 'Mervyn Laurence Peake'; the E&S 'Part One: Gormenghast' leaf omitted in favour of a dedication 'For / Maeve' on p.[v], with the Bunyan quotation moved after the contents; a wholly different Peake jacket with a Graham Greene blurb on the front flap and a Derek Sayer photograph of Peake on the back.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

The principal later-issue tell is the 1946 second impression: coarse-grained cloth in place of the first issue's fine linen grain, and a jacket front flap on which review extracts and a 'Second impression' statement replace the original blurb. First-thus traps: Weybright & Talley, New York 1967 (A4c, dark blue cloth 233 x 152mm) adds the series line 'The Gormenghast Trilogy: Volume One' and wears a Bob Pepper jacket forming one panel of a three-volume triptych; the Ballantine 1968 paperback continues that triptych. No book-club edition is documented for the 1946 first in the sources consulted.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Titus Groan a first edition?

A first edition of Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake (Eyre & Spottiswoode) is identified by: First printing was 2,000 copies (Peake in Print A4a), which sold quickly enough that a second impression followed within the same year.

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?

The principal later-issue tell is the 1946 second impression: coarse-grained cloth in place of the first issue's fine linen grain, and a jacket front flap on which review extracts and a 'Second impression' statement replace the original blurb. First-thus traps: Weybright & Talley, New York 1967 (A4c, dark blue cloth 233 x 152mm) adds the series line 'The Gormenghast Trilogy: Volume One' and wears a Bob Pepper jacket forming one panel of a three-volume triptych; the Ballantine 1968 paperback cont

I have a first edition of Titus Groan — 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.