Is My 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, and the census claim is correct. 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.

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, and the census claim is correct.

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. The novel was later gathered into the Fantasy Press "History of Civilization

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 — 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.