Is My Watership Down a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Rex Collings Ltd, London, November 1972 — the author's first novel, issued by a small one-man firm after rejections elsewhere
• Bound in pale brown cloth-covered boards, lettered in gilt on the spine, with a gilt rabbit vignette to the front board (dealers describe it variously as a rabbit or a pair of rabbits)
• The folding map at the rear must be present — the trade treats it as 'all-important' and it is frequently lacking or supplied from another copy
• The copyright page carries the Rex Collings Ltd 1972 notice, with the date matching the title page, and the printer's imprint is reported as 'Printed in Great Britain by Bristol Typesetting Co., Ltd., Barton Manor, St
• Philips, Bristol'
• Later Collings impressions and editions are dated accordingly on the copyright page

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. Read the number line — the lowest number is the printing. A line including 1 is a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2). Paste it into the decoder.
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?

Census claim confirmed. Rex Collings, London 1972 is the true first, preceding the first American edition (Macmillan, New York, 1974) — both are collected, but only the Collings is the first. The American edition is the standing trap on this title: it carries only the 1972 UK copyright date and no title-page date, so it is repeatedly catalogued and sold as 'the 1972 first' (some reference databases even file it under 1972 for this reason). Identify a genuine Macmillan first American printing by the full number line 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 on the copyright page and by a jacket back panel carrying British reviews only — later printings add American reviews alongside them — with the price present at the front flap.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Later-issue tells: subsequent Rex Collings printings and editions carry a later date on the copyright page rather than 1972. For the American edition, the first-vs-later printing tell is the jacket back panel (British reviews only on the first printing; British and American on later ones). First-thus traps that are not firsts: the 1976 Paradine Press edition illustrated by John Lawrence (the first illustrated edition, also issued in a signed limited state) and the Puffin/Penguin paperbacks. No book-club edition tell is documented in the sources consulted.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Watership Down a first edition?

A first edition of Watership Down by Richard Adams (Rex Collings) is identified by: Rex Collings Ltd, London, November 1972 — the author's first novel, issued by a small one-man firm after rejections elsewhere.

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

Check the copyright page. A number line whose lowest number is 1 marks a first printing (Random House ends at 2). Census claim confirmed.

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

Later-issue tells: subsequent Rex Collings printings and editions carry a later date on the copyright page rather than 1972. For the American edition, the first-vs-later printing tell is the jacket back panel (British reviews only on the first printing; British and American on later ones). First-thus traps that are not firsts: the 1976 Paradine Press edition illustrated by John Lawrence (the first illustrated edition, also issued in a signed limited state) and the Puffin/Penguin paperbacks. No b

I have a first edition of Watership Down — 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.