The fastest check: Edition statement on title/copyright page
How to identify a first printing
- Edition statement on title/copyright page
- Number line (modern era)
- Absence of later-printing notice (older titles)
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
- Academic-press conventions; printing distinctions matter less to scholarly buyers than to literary collectors.
Frequently asked questions
How do I know if my Cambridge University Press book is a first edition?
Check the copyright page. Edition statement on title/copyright page Number line (modern era)
Does Cambridge University Press use a number line?
Number line (modern era)
Is a book-club edition a Cambridge University Press first edition?
No. Book-club editions reprint the text but are not the true first edition. Academic-press conventions; printing distinctions matter less to scholarly buyers than to literary collectors.
What era does this cover?
This covers Cambridge University Press. Conventions changed over time, so confirm the era of your copy.
Cambridge University Press titles with documented first-edition points
Each link opens that title’s specific points of issue — the exact marks that separate a true first printing from a later one.
- An Experiment in Criticism (C.S. Lewis, 1961)
- Studies in Words (C.S. Lewis, 1960)
- The Discarded Image: An Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Literature (C.S. Lewis, 1964)
- Travels in Arabia Deserta (Charles M. Doughty, 1888)