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First-Edition Identification · Regional & Specialty Presses

How to Identify a A-R Editions First Edition

USA (Madison, WI; later Middleton, WI) · 1962-present

The fastest check: 1962-present (scholarly music-edition house): Publishes critical/scholarly editions of music (the 'Recent Researches in Music' series, begun 1964) and musicology. Identify by the series volume number and the critical-edition apparatus; the original issue is stated by the copyright year on the verso. Printings of a given critical edition are rarely distinguished, so the series volume number plus copyright year is the working identifier.

How to identify a first printing

Decode the printer's key: paste the number line into the number-line decoder, search any title in the First Edition Checker, or run a book through the identifier.

Notable points & cautions

Imprints

First editions also appear under: Recent Researches in Music (series), Computer Music and Digital Audio Series, A-R Editions. Each generally follows the house convention above.

Frequently asked questions

How do I know if my A-R Editions book is a first edition?

Check the copyright page. 1962-present (scholarly music-edition house): Publishes critical/scholarly editions of music (the 'Recent Researches in Music' series, begun 1964) and musicology. Identify by the series volume number and the critical-edition apparatus; the original issue is stated by the copyright year on the verso. Printings of a given critical edition are rarely distinguished, so the series volume number plus copyright year is the working identifier. All eras: A first issue carries the original copyright year with no 'corrected/second printing' note; corrected reissues add such a note. There is no consumer-style number line; this is a scholarly-edition house.

Does A-R Editions use a number line?

All eras: A first issue carries the original copyright year with no 'corrected/second printing' note; corrected reissues add such a note. There is no consumer-style number line; this is a scholarly-edition house.

Is a book-club edition a A-R Editions first edition?

No. Book-club editions reprint the text but are not the true first edition. Specialist publisher of scholarly critical editions of music, founded 1962 at Yale by Gary Aamodt and Clyde Rykken (the 'A' and 'R'); moved from Madison to Middleton, Wisconsin in the 1990s.

What era does this cover?

This covers A-R Editions (1962-present). Conventions changed over time, so confirm the era of your copy.

More first-edition identification