Is My Troubles a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First published by Jonathan Cape, London, in 1970; the first impression is an octavo of 446 pages, approximately 197 x 128mm, bound in publisher's grey cloth boards with the spine lettered in gilt, and carries ISBN 0224619004
• Renaissance Books records the top edges as dyed red — this is single-sourced among the catalogues consulted, and the dye is fugitive and very commonly faded to near-invisible, so a faded top edge does not disqualify a copy
• The pictorial dust jacket is credited to Bill Bottem (catalogued by Shapero as 'Botton'; the two spellings refer to the same designer) and carries the price present at the flap, unclipped on many copies
• The text opens 'In those days the Majestic was still standing in Kilnalough...'

How Jonathan Cape marked a first edition

• First printings state "First published [Year]" or "First published in Great Britain [Year]" on the copyright page with NO additional impression lines and traditionally NO number line
• Later printings noted by added lines (e.g. 'Second impression [year]', 'Reprinted...') — their presence disqualifies a first

Full Jonathan Cape 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 American 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?

Jonathan Cape (London), 1970, is the true first and the first volume of the Empire Trilogy; it took the Faber Memorial Prize and, retrospectively, the 2010 'Lost Man Booker Prize' for 1970. Alfred A. Knopf issued the first American edition in New York, with a jacket designed and illustrated by Wendell Minor. The American date is genuinely muddled and the census claim of 'US Knopf 1971' is not established: dealers list Knopf copies as both 1970 and 1971, and one describes a copy whose title page states 1970 while the preliminaries state 1971 and the jacket flap is coded 8/71. The Cape precedence is not in doubt either way.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition of the Cape first is documented in the sources consulted. The reprint tell to watch is a later Cape impression retaining the same 1970 title-page date — a stated impression line on the verso separates these from the first. Copies offered under the Cape imprint with later dates on the title page are subsequent printings, not the first, regardless of a 'the printed pricet Edition' label in the listing.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Troubles a first edition?

A first edition of Troubles by J.G. Farrell (Jonathan Cape) is identified by: First published by Jonathan Cape, London, in 1970; the first impression is an octavo of 446 pages, approximately 197 x 128mm, bound in publisher's grey cloth boards with the spine lettered in gilt, and carries ISBN 0224619004.

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. Jonathan Cape (London), 1970, is the true first and the first volume of the Empire Trilogy; it took the Faber Memorial Prize and, retrospectively, the 2010 'Lost Man Booker Prize' for 1970.

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

No book-club edition of the Cape first is documented in the sources consulted. The reprint tell to watch is a later Cape impression retaining the same 1970 title-page date — a stated impression line on the verso separates these from the first. Copies offered under the Cape imprint with later dates on the title page are subsequent printings, not the first, regardless of a 'the printed pricet Edition' label in the listing.

I have a first edition of Troubles — 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.