Skip to main content

First-Edition Identification · Will Self

Is My Walking to Hollywood a First Edition?

Bloomsbury, 2010

The points of issue

Hardcover in boards with gilt-lettered spine and pictorial jacket. First printing carries a full descending number line ending in 1.

Decode the printer’s key: paste the number line into the decoder · Bloomsbury first-edition guide.

Is this the true first?

UK Bloomsbury (2010) is the true first and precedes the US Grove Press edition (2011).

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Later printings can be identified by the lowest number in the line being higher than 1.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Walking to Hollywood a first edition?

Look for these first-edition points: Hardcover in boards with gilt-lettered spine and pictorial jacket. First printing carries a full descending number line ending in 1.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page for the publisher's first-printing convention and confirm the points above. UK Bloomsbury (2010) is the true first and precedes the US Grove Press edition (2011).

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

Later printings can be identified by the lowest number in the line being higher than 1.

I have a first edition of Walking to Hollywood — what should I do?

If you're clearing books, New Mexico Literacy Project offers free pickup in Albuquerque, any condition, and makes sure collectible copies aren't lost. To sell, see the author's collecting guide. Either way, nothing valuable ends up in a landfill.

Keep identifying