Is My White Butterfly a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The first printing is the W. W. Norton & Company, New York, 1992 hardcover (ISBN 0-393-03366-X), octavo, 272 pp., in publisher's half/quarter navy-blue cloth over light blue paper-covered boards with the spine lettered in gilt
• The copyright page carries a 'First Edition' statement
• Norton first printings of this period pair that statement with a number line in which the 1 is present, and because Norton is documented to have occasionally failed to delete the statement on later printings, the number line — not the words 'First Edition' alone — governs the printing
• The jacket bears a painting by John Jinks with design by Hugh O'Neill; a first-issue jacket is unclipped with the price present at the front flap
• Dealer copies described as 'First Edition
• Second Printing' circulate, so the statement by itself must not be taken as proof of first printing

How W. W. Norton & Company marked a first edition

• Early/statement-only era (1923 to roughly the late 1950s–early 1960s): a first printing carries the words 'First Edition' on the copyright page, and Norton simply DROPPED that line on later printings — there was no print…
• Number-line adoption (sometime in the 1960s — the guides do not pin an exact year, and it roughly coincides with the employee-ownership transition): Norton added a printing key/number row to the copyright page. From this…

Full W. W. Norton & Company 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. 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 census claim is correct: the true first is Norton, New York, January 1992. The first UK edition followed from Serpent's Tail (London) in 1993 and is collected as the first British edition only, not as the true first; Serpent's Tail had also issued Mosley's earlier Easy Rawlins titles in the UK, which can mislead. This is the third Easy Rawlins novel; the later Pocket Books / Washington Square Press paperbacks (1993 and after) are reprints, and any 'first thus' description attached to them should be disregarded.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No US book-club issue of the Norton first was documented in the sources consulted. Standard book-club tells apply to any club copy encountered: a blind-stamped colophon (dot, square, circle or triangle) impressed into the rear board near the spine, no price at the jacket flap, no barcode on the jacket rear, a smaller trim size, lower-bulk paper, and absence of the publisher's number line.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of White Butterfly a first edition?

A first edition of White Butterfly by Walter Mosley (W. W. Norton & Company) is identified by: The first printing is the W.

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). The census claim is correct: the true first is Norton, New York, January 1992.

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

No US book-club issue of the Norton first was documented in the sources consulted. Standard book-club tells apply to any club copy encountered: a blind-stamped colophon (dot, square, circle or triangle) impressed into the rear board near the spine, no price at the jacket flap, no barcode on the jacket rear, a smaller trim size, lower-bulk paper, and absence of the publisher's number line.

I have a first edition of White Butterfly — 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.