How to identify a first printing
- Pre-1970s: NO first-edition statement; first printings identified by the ABSENCE of any later-printing notation on the copyright page. Later printings were noted.
- 1970s onward: began using both a number row AND the words 'First Edition'.
- From c.1980: stated 'First Edition' together with a descending number line ending in 1 — the modern reliable test.
- Trade imprints (Clarkson Potter, Harmony, Three Rivers) follow Crown/RH-family convention: 'First Edition' + number line to 1.
Notable points & cautions
- Founded 1933 (out of the remainder firm Outlet Book Company); known for affordable trade and reference titles.
- Acquired by Random House 1988; now the Crown Publishing Group within Penguin Random House.
- Pre-1970s identification is easy to get wrong — rely on absence-of-reprint-line logic, not on a stated 'First Edition' that won't be there.
- Three Rivers Press is largely a trade-paperback reprint line — usually NOT a true first.
Imprints
First editions also appear under: Harmony Books, Clarkson Potter, Three Rivers Press, Crown Forum, Crown Archetype, Broadway Books (later), Hogarth (US), Watson-Guptill (former), Bell Publishing, Crown Business. Each generally follows the house convention above.
Frequently asked questions
How do I know if my Crown Publishers book is a first edition?
Check the copyright page. Pre-1970s: NO first-edition statement; first printings identified by the ABSENCE of any later-printing notation on the copyright page. Later printings were noted. 1970s onward: began using both a number row AND the words 'First Edition'.
Does Crown Publishers use a number line?
1970s onward: began using both a number row AND the words 'First Edition'.
Is a book-club edition a Crown Publishers first edition?
No. Book-club editions reprint the text but are not the true first edition. Founded 1933 (out of the remainder firm Outlet Book Company); known for affordable trade and reference titles.
What era does this cover?
This covers Crown Publishers (1933–present). Conventions changed over time, so confirm the era of your copy.
Crown Publishers 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.
- A Place Called Freedom (Ken Follett, 1995)
- Crossing Over: Where Art and Science Meet (Stephen Jay Gould, 2000)
- Gone Girl (Gillian Flynn, 2012)
- Larousse Gastronomique (first English-language edition) (Prosper Montagné (edited/translated by Nina Froud and Charlotte Turgeon; introductions by Escoffier and Philéas Gilbert), 1961)
- Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer (Steven Millhauser, 1996)
- Ready Player One (Ernest Cline, 2011)
- The Devil in the White City (Erik Larson, 2003)
- The Devil in the White City — deeper Larson: In the Garden of Beasts (Erik Larson, 2011)
- The Hammer of Eden (Ken Follett, 1998)
- The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (Rebecca Skloot, 2010)
- The Third Twin (Ken Follett, 1996)