Is My Copy of Triplanetary a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First book edition: Fantasy Press, Reading, Pennsylvania, 1948
• Fantasy Press states "First Edition" on the copyright page with no further printing noted — this is the house practice recorded by Quill & Brush ("States 'First Edition' on copyright page") and confirmed by L. W. Currey's Fantasy Press catalogue entries ("First edition so stated on copyright page")
• Two issues were made up from the same first printing: a limited issue with an integral limitation leaf reading in the Fantasy Press form "Limited to [N] copies of which [M] are numbered and autographed", hand-numbered and signed by Smith, and an unsigned trade issue that simply lacks that leaf; both are the first edition, and the absence of a limitation leaf does not demote a copy to a reprint
• Physical points reported consistently by dealers: sky-blue cloth over boards with author and title stamped in gilt on the spine, 287 pp., roughly 5¼ × 7⅝ inches, with jacket and interior illustrations by A. J. Donnell; the jacket should be priced at the flap

How Fantasy Press marked a first edition

• Trade first edition: copyright page typically without later-printing notation; check against the known single print run (~3,000 copies)
• Signed/limited state is identified by a tipped-in or bound-in 'limitation leaf' after the title page, stating the limitation number and signed by the author (anywhere from ~250 to 500 numbered/signed copies per title)

Full Fantasy 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 original — the Fantasy Press 1948 edition is the first appearance in book form anywhere. There is no earlier or competing UK edition and no original-language issue elsewhere. The important trap is textual rather than geographic: the 1948 book is NOT a reissue of the 1934 Amazing Stories serial of the same name. It is a substantially rewritten fix-up retrofitted as the Lensman opener — Book One ("Dawn") and Book Two ("The World War") are new material, and only Book Three revises and expands the 1934 serial. A copy described as "the 1934 Triplanetary in book form" is misdescribed; that text had no separate book edition.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Quill & Brush warns explicitly that Fantasy Press "may have occasionally left 'First Edition' statement of original publisher on offset reprints with their imprint" — so the copyright-page statement alone is not sufficient. Always read the imprint on the spine, title page and jacket: a "First Edition" statement under any imprint other than Fantasy Press, Reading, PA is a carried-over statement on a reprint, not a first. The novel was later gathered into the Fantasy Press "History of Civilization" Lensman omnibus set (1955), which is a separate limited edition and not the 1948 first.P-042212

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Triplanetary a first edition?

A first edition of Triplanetary by E. E. 'Doc' Smith (Fantasy Press) is identified by: First book edition: Fantasy Press, Reading, Pennsylvania, 1948.

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 original — the Fantasy Press 1948 edition is the first appearance in book form anywhere.

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

Quill & Brush warns explicitly that Fantasy Press "may have occasionally left 'First Edition' statement of original publisher on offset reprints with their imprint" — so the copyright-page statement alone is not sufficient. Always read the imprint on the spine, title page and jacket: a "First Edition" statement under any imprint other than Fantasy Press, Reading, PA is a carried-over statement on a reprint, not a first.

I have a first edition of Triplanetary — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and decode the printing with the free First Edition Checker. Clearing out books? I take them as a free donation and make sure collectible copies are identified, not discarded: free pickup in the Albuquerque metro (scheduled by route), the 24/7 drop box at 5445 Edith Blvd NE, or donor-paid mail-in from anywhere in the US. Questions? Call or text 505-250-3804.

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.