Is My Turning Point (Στροφή / Strophi) a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The true first is the 1931 Athens printing of Στροφή (Strophi), which Seferis issued at his own expense — his debut, on whose appearance he was at once hailed "the poet of the future" (Britannica)
• It carries the poet-name "Giorgos Seferis," the pseudonym of the diplomat Georgios Seferiadis, making this the first book to bear the Seferis byline
• Contents, per standard sources, are thirteen short poems (most in traditional metre and rhyme) framing the long central poem "Erotikos Logos" (96 rhymed fifteen-syllable verses) — often counted as fourteen pieces in all
• The debut is famous for a small self-financed limitation: a run of roughly 200 copies is widely repeated, and the hand-numbered limitation is the point of issue to look for (confirm the 1931 date and a copy number)
• Treat the more granular claims — an exact 41-page collation, a "May 1931" month, and ~50 hors-commerce copies — as under-documented (they trace to a single Greek blog, not a standard bibliography) and verify against the physical copy
• These small Greek literary printings carried no "First Edition" statement, so identify by date, imprint and numbering, and treat any specific wrapper, format, paper or price claim skeptically unless the copy confirms it

How to confirm the first-printing statement

Publishers stated first printings differently by era. The decisive tells are a printed “First Edition/First Printing” statement, a number line whose lowest number is 1 (Random House ends at 2), or a dated first printing with no later printings listed. Paste your copyright page into the number-line decoder.

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 UK 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?

The true original-language first is Στροφή (Strophi / Turning Point), Athens 1931 — the self-financed debut and the cornerstone first collectors chase. His mature masterpiece is Μυθιστόρημα (Mythistorema), 24 free-verse poems, Athens 1935 (issued in association with the journal Ta Nea Grammata; the Kastalia imprint is sometimes cited — verify); a passage from "Mythistorema 3" was recited in the "Allegory" segment of the 2004 Athens Olympics opening ceremony. On English translations, note precedence carefully: the earliest English appearance in book form is the slim shared pamphlet "Six Poems from the Greek of Sikelianos and Seferis," privately printed in Rhodes in 1946, translated by Lawrence Durrell (three Seferis poems alongside three by Sikelianos, ~18 pp., wrappers) — NOT a standalone Seferis book and not published in the UK. The first substantial, UK-published, book-length Seferis volume in English is "The King of Asine and Other Poems" (London: John Lehmann, 1948, 82 pp.), translated by Bernard Spencer, Nanos Valaoritis and Lawrence Durrell, with an introduction by Rex Warner (pp. 7–13) and a dust-wrapper design by Keith Vaughan. Common trap: Rex Warner here is the INTRODUCER, not a translator; his own Warner-translated "Poems" came later (London: Bodley Head, 1960). The standard scholarly English is the Keeley & Sherrard bilingual Collected Poems (Princeton).

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club-edition tradition applies to this Greek modernist material. The real traps are (1) later Athens reprints and the revised/expanded settings Seferis authorized over the decades — later Ikaros collected-poems printings (Poiimata) are common and are NOT the 1931 first; do not confuse the 1931 Strophi with its later second edition or its reappearance inside collected editions; and (2) the English-language volumes (the 1946 Rhodes pamphlet, the 1948 Lehmann King of Asine, the 1960 Warner Poems, the Princeton Keeley–Sherrard), which are translations and must never be represented as the true first however handsome the copy.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Turning Point (Στροφή / Strophi) a first edition?

A first edition of Turning Point (Στροφή / Strophi) by George Seferis (Giorgos Seferis / Georgios Seferiadis) (Printed at the author's own expense in Athens) is identified by: The true first is the 1931 Athens printing of Στροφή (Strophi), which Seferis issued at his own expense — his debut, on whose appearance he was at once hailed "the poet of the future" (Britannica).

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. The true original-language first is Στροφή (Strophi / Turning Point), Athens 1931 — the self-financed debut and the cornerstone first collectors chase.

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

No book-club-edition tradition applies to this Greek modernist material. The real traps are (1) later Athens reprints and the revised/expanded settings Seferis authorized over the decades — later Ikaros collected-poems printings (Poiimata) are common and are NOT the 1931 first; do not confuse the 1931 Strophi with its later second edition or its reappearance inside collected editions; and (2) the English-language volumes (the 1946 Rhodes pamphlet, the 1948 Lehmann King of Asine, the 1960 Warner

I have a first edition of Turning Point (Στροφή / Strophi) — 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.