Is My Whoroscope a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Beckett's first separately published book, issued in a single printing of 300 numbered copies: 100 signed by Beckett and 200 unsigned
• Bound as a slim pamphlet in the publisher's printed red wrappers, stapled as issued — rust staining from the staples and foxing are normal age characteristics, not reprint tells
• The critical and most frequently absent point is the publisher's printed paper belly band, which announces that the poem took the prize in Nancy Cunard's Hours Press competition for the best poem on the subject of Time, judged by Richard Aldington and Cunard; the great majority of surviving copies lack it
• The poem carries Beckett's own explanatory notes on the Descartes material, appended at Cunard's request
• Catalogued as Federman & Fletcher 5
• Recorded copies show signed examples in the low numbers and unsigned examples in the upper range, but no source we consulted states the numbering ranges explicitly, so confirm the signature rather than inferring issue from the number

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. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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?

No precedence question. Whoroscope was published only in Paris by the Hours Press in 1930 and had no contemporaneous London or New York edition; the poem's later appearances are in Beckett's collected poetry volumes and are 'first thus' at best. Any standalone 'Whoroscope' outside the 1930 Hours Press pamphlet is a later printing.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition exists — a 300-copy Paris private-press pamphlet was never club-issued or trade-reprinted in this form. The practical hazards are not reprints but incomplete and loosely described copies: the printed band is missing far more often than present, and unsigned copies are sometimes catalogued with limitation language that implies the signed issue.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Whoroscope a first edition?

A first edition of Whoroscope by Samuel Beckett (The Hours Press) is identified by: Beckett's first separately published book, issued in a single printing of 300 numbered copies: 100 signed by Beckett and 200 unsigned.

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. No precedence question.

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

No book-club edition exists — a 300-copy Paris private-press pamphlet was never club-issued or trade-reprinted in this form. The practical hazards are not reprints but incomplete and loosely described copies: the printed band is missing far more often than present, and unsigned copies are sometimes catalogued with limitation language that implies the signed issue.

I have a first edition of Whoroscope — 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.