Is My Where I'm Calling From: New and Selected Stories a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Terra-cotta cloth stamped in gilt
• 393 pp.; published May 1988, three months before Carver's death
• The trade first edition carries a stated First Edition / First Printing on the copyright page (no number line)

How Atlantic Monthly Press marked a first edition

• Late 1920s–1930s: 'Published (Month, Year)' on the copyright page with no additional printings listed indicates a first printing. From 1940 onward 'First Edition' was added above the 'Published' line, while 'Published (M…
• Since 1988: first printings state 'First Edition' and 'First Printing' on the copyright page (this convention predates and is independent of the 1993 Grove/Atlantic merger).

Full Atlantic Monthly 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. 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. 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.
5. 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?

Two distinct signed states precede or parallel the trade hardcover. The Franklin Library signed first edition (burgundy leather with four raised bands, gilt titling and gilt designs to both panels, all edges gilt, marbled endpapers, and a sewn-in ribbon marker) preceded the trade and contains an introduction, a Special Message by Carver, that appears nowhere else in the text. Separately, Atlantic Monthly Press issued a signed limited edition of 250 numbered copies in a slipcase. The trade Atlantic Monthly Press hardcover is the standard first trade edition. The Vintage Contemporaries paperback (1989) is a later reprint.P-025280

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

The Franklin Library leather edition is a separate signed issue, not the trade first; do not conflate the two. Book-club reprints lack the stated First Edition / First Printing and use cheaper bindings.P-025281

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Where I'm Calling From: New and Selected Stories a first edition?

A first edition of Where I'm Calling From: New and Selected Stories by Raymond Carver (Atlantic Monthly Press) is identified by: Terra-cotta cloth stamped in gilt; 393 pp.; published May 1988, three months before Carver's death.

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). Two distinct signed states precede or parallel the trade hardcover.

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

The Franklin Library leather edition is a separate signed issue, not the trade first; do not conflate the two. Book-club reprints lack the stated First Edition / First Printing and use cheaper bindings.

I have a first edition of Where I'm Calling From: New and Selected Stories — 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.