Is My Transformations a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Two first-printing issues were published and both are collected
• The trade issue is bound in paper-covered boards with a cloth spine, collates 111 pp., and belongs in its dust jacket — unclipped, with the price present at the front flap
• The limited issue is one of 500 copies signed by Sexton, bound in red cloth with a printed paper label on the front cover, issued in a glassine wrapper and a publisher's slipcase; the limited issue is confirmed by both dealer catalogue and auction record
• Both carry drawings by Barbara Swan and a foreword by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr
• (styled a preface in some dealer descriptions)
• Houghton Mifflin house practice for this period requires 'First Printing' stated on the copyright page, with the year in Arabic numerals on the title page; the statement is dropped on later printings, which dealers catalogue as 'first edition, second printing' and so on

How Houghton Mifflin, Boston marked a first edition

• Merger-lineage window (Hurd & Houghton 1864 → Houghton, Osgood & Co. 1878–1880 → Houghton, Mifflin & Co. from 1880): still no 'First Edition' wording; identify by title-page date matching the copyright date, by the earli…
• Late-19th to mid-20th century (c.1880s–1950s): the operative tell is the title page. Houghton Mifflin almost invariably printed the year of first publication, in Arabic numerals, on the title page of a first printing and…

Full Houghton Mifflin, Boston 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 true first: Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1971 (ISBN 0395127211). The first British edition followed from Oxford University Press, London, 1 June 1972 (ISBN 019211817X) — a distinct edition collected in its own right as the UK first, but not the true first. First thus trap: Houghton Mifflin's 2001 reissue under ISBN 0618083435 / 9780618083435 is a modern reprint despite carrying the same publisher imprint.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition documented. The realistic trap is the second and later Houghton Mifflin printings still dated 1971-72, which are common in commerce; the printing statement on the copyright page is the tell, not the 1971 date on the title page.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Transformations a first edition?

A first edition of Transformations by Anne Sexton (Houghton Mifflin, Boston) is identified by: Two first-printing issues were published and both are collected.

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 true first: Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1971 (ISBN 0395127211).

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

No book-club edition documented. The realistic trap is the second and later Houghton Mifflin printings still dated 1971-72, which are common in commerce; the printing statement on the copyright page is the tell, not the 1971 date on the title page.

I have a first edition of Transformations — 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.