Is My Tourist Season a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Putnam's printed no "First Edition" slug in this period, so identification rests entirely on the copyright page number line: the first printing carries the full row 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 reading left to right, and the "1" must be present
• Octavo in publisher's boards, 272 pp, in the first-issue pictorial dust jacket with the price present at the front flap (unclipped)
• Note a live disagreement among reference guides on when Putnam adopted the number row — Quill & Brush (qbbooks.com) dates it to 1985, while Books Tell You Why puts it at 1989 and describes 1960-88 firsts as simply carrying no impression statement, later printings adding "second impression," etc
• Multiple independent dealer descriptions of first printings of this 1986 title report the complete number line beginning with 1, so the copyright page itself is decisive and the Quill & Brush dating is the one that matches the book

How G. P. Putnam's Sons marked a first edition

• PRE-1928 (early independent house): Putnam printed NO first-edition statement. Identify a first by matching the copyright-page year to the title-page year with no reprint/later-printing notice on the copyright page. Afte…
• NUMBER-LINE ADOPTION (CONTESTED DATE): Putnam moved to a printer's-key number line on the copyright page. A complete ascending line 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 (all ten numerals present, lowest = 1) indicates a first printing,…

Full G. P. Putnam's Sons 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?

Census claim confirmed. The US G. P. Putnam's Sons edition, New York, 1986, is the true first: Hiaasen is American and no earlier or simultaneous foreign-language edition exists. No UK hardcover of 1986 is documented in the sources consulted, so no UK-vs-US precedence question arises here. One framing correction worth carrying: Tourist Season is Hiaasen's first solo novel, not his first novel — Powder Burn (1981), Trap Line (1982) and A Death in China (1984) were written with William D. Montalbano — so dealer copy calling it "the author's first novel" is loose. The Warner Books US paperback (1987) is a reprint, not a "first thus."

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue of this title is documented in the sources consulted, so treat the following as the general 1980s screen rather than a title-specific point: check for a blind stamp (small dot, square, circle or triangle) impressed in the lower rear board near the spine, no price at the jacket front flap, thinner boards and lighter bulk than the trade issue, and absence of the Putnam number line. Any of those rules the copy out as a first.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Tourist Season a first edition?

A first edition of Tourist Season by Carl Hiaasen (G. P. Putnam's Sons) is identified by: Putnam's printed no "First Edition" slug in this period, so identification rests entirely on the copyright page number line: the first printing carries the full row 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 reading left to right, and the "1" must be present.

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). Census claim confirmed.

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

No book-club issue of this title is documented in the sources consulted, so treat the following as the general 1980s screen rather than a title-specific point: check for a blind stamp (small dot, square, circle or triangle) impressed in the lower rear board near the spine, no price at the jacket front flap, thinner boards and lighter bulk than the trade issue, and absence of the Putnam number line. Any of those rules the copy out as a first.

I have a first edition of Tourist Season — 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.