How to Identify a Simon & Schuster First Edition

How to identify a first printing

• ERA 1 — Founding era (1924–1936): Identify by absence, not by a positive statement. A true first has NO printing or edition notice on the copyright page; later printings are the ones that carry information — a printing date and, on some titles, the quantity printed. (A few 1930s titles instead used a row of dots or asterisks on the copyright page to flag additional printings.) Cross-check that the title-page year and the copyright year agree with the known publication year; a later date on either points away from a first.
• ERA 2 — Mid-century, pre-number-line (1937–mid-1973): Still negative identification — a first printing carries no later-printing notice, while second and subsequent printings are consistently marked (dated, sometimes with quantity). IMPORTANT correction: unlike some guides claim, S&S DID print positive first-issue statements in this window, and BOTH wordings occur — 'FIRST PRINTING' (e.g. Heller's Catch-22, 1961) and, on other titles, the literal words 'First Edition' (e.g. Cornelius Ryan's The Longest Day, 1959, states 'FIRST EDITION' on the copyright page). Do not assume the phrase must be 'First Printing.' A common tradition dates the onset of a routine first-issue statement to about 1952; treat that as an approximate, imperfectly-documented boundary, not a hard rule. Absence of a later-printing notice remains the most reliable single tell.
• ERA 3 — Number-line introduction (mid-1973–1980): S&S adopted a copyright-page number line. Read the lowest number present: a line whose lowest digit is 1 is a first printing (e.g. '1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10' or the descending '10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1'). Some titles in this window instead spell out a first-issue statement ('First Printing,' occasionally with a date) in place of, or alongside, the line. S&S clarified in 1976 that 'edition' referred to binding/format or a revised text — NOT the impression — so rely on the number line for impression, and never read 'edition' language as proof of a first printing.
• ERA 4 — The signature non-sequential line (1981–present): S&S's hallmark line is the scrambled sequence '1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2'. The rule is presence-of-lowest-number, NOT last-digit: if 1 is present (as the lowest number), it is a first printing — even though the line ends in 2, not 1. For each later printing the printer strips the lowest surviving number, so a second printing reads '3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2', a third '5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2', and so on. Straight ascending '1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10' and descending '10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1' lines also appear as firsts across this period; in every variant, look for 1 as the lowest number rather than at the final digit.
• CROSS-CHECK across all number-line eras: A 1-bearing number line is frequently paired with a spelled-out first-issue statement (which may read 'First Printing' OR 'First Edition' — both occur at S&S). When a positive statement AND a 1-bearing number line are present and agree, the first-printing attribution is essentially settled. If they disagree (e.g. a 'First Printing' line survives but the number line's lowest digit is 2), trust the number line — the text was likely left un-stripped in error.
• IMPRINTS — apply the same house grammar imprint-by-imprint, but confirm each imprint's own boilerplate: Touchstone and Fireside (S&S trade paperback lines), The Free Press, Atria, Gallery, Pocket Books, and Scribner each carry a copyright-page number line under the parent convention. Scribner in particular retains its own device and bibliographic history and should be identified against the Scribner record, not assumed identical to the S&S trade line.
• DEVICE/LOGO caution: The S&S 'sower' colophon (a figure sowing seed, from the firm's early logo) appears across many printings and editions and is NOT a first-printing point — it identifies the publisher, not the impression. Ignore it when dating a copy and rely solely on copyright-page evidence (number line and/or the spelled-out first-issue statement).

Notable points & cautions

• The most persistent error is treating S&S like Random House and demanding a number line that ENDS in 1. From 1981 on the signature S&S line ends in 2 ('1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2'); the test is whether 1 is the lowest number present anywhere in the line — not the final digit. (Straight ascending and descending lines also occur as firsts.)
• Do NOT over-correct into the opposite myth that S&S 'never says First Edition.' Documented firsts exist with the literal words 'FIRST EDITION' on the copyright page (Cornelius Ryan, The Longest Day, 1959) AND with 'FIRST PRINTING' (Joseph Heller, Catch-22, 1961). Both wordings are genuine; verify the exact phrase on the copyright page rather than assuming which one S&S 'always' used.
• The commonly-cited claim that S&S 'began using a first-edition statement around 1952' comes from the older publisher-guide tradition (Bookman's / qbbooks lineage) and is NOT contradicted by the primary ILAB guide, which simply omits a year. Treat 1952 as a soft, approximate onset for routine first-issue statements — useful context, not a hard cutoff to test a book against.
• Do not confuse the S&S sower DEVICE (a publisher colophon on all printings) with a book-club tell. S&S-content book-club editions are identified the normal way — blind-stamped dot/square on the rear board, no price on the jacket flap or a 'Book Club Edition' notice, and cheaper bulk paper/binding — NOT by presence or absence of the sower logo. (This is the same category error people make with Knopf's Borzoi device; both are house colophons, not impression or book-club marks.)
• In the mid-1973–1980 transition both systems coexist: some firsts carry a number line, some spell out a first-issue statement, and a few carry both. Absence of a number line on an early-1970s S&S title does not by itself mean a later printing — check for a spelled-out statement before concluding. On marquee titles, jacket points and priority states can override copyright-page evidence, so verify against a title-specific point record.

Imprints

First editions also appear under: Scribner, Touchstone, Fireside, The Free Press, Atria Books, Gallery Books, Pocket Books. Each generally follows the house convention above.

Frequently asked questions

How do I know if my Simon & Schuster book is a first edition?

Check the copyright page. ERA 1 — Founding era (1924–1936): Identify by absence, not by a positive statement. A true first has NO printing or edition notice on the copyright page; later printings are the ones that carry information — a printing date and, on some titles, the quantity printed. (A few 1930s titles instead used a row of dots or asterisks on the copyright page to flag additional printings.) Cross-check that the title-page year and the copyright year agree with the known publication year; a later date on either points away from a first. ERA 2 — Mid-century, pre-number-line (1937–mid-1973): Still negative identification — a first printing carries no later-printing notice, while second and subsequent printings are consistently marked (dated, sometimes with quantity). IMPORTANT correction: unlike some guides claim, S&S DID print positive first-issue statements in this window, and BOTH wordings occur — 'FIRST PRINTING' (e.g. Heller's Catch-22, 1961) and, on other titles, the literal words 'First Edition' (e.g. Cornelius Ryan's The Longest Day, 1959, states 'FIRST EDITION' on the copyright page). Do not assume the phrase must be 'First Printing.' A common tradition dates the onset of a routine first-issue statement to about 1952; treat that as an approximate, imperfectly-documented boundary, not a hard rule. Absence of a later-printing notice remains the most reliable single tell.

Does Simon & Schuster use a number line?

ERA 2 — Mid-century, pre-number-line (1937–mid-1973): Still negative identification — a first printing carries no later-printing notice, while second and subsequent printings are consistently marked (dated, sometimes with quantity). IMPORTANT correction: unlike some guides claim, S&S DID print positive first-issue statements in this window, and BOTH wordings occur — 'FIRST PRINTING' (e.g. Heller's Catch-22, 1961) and, on other titles, the literal words 'First Edition' (e.g. Cornelius Ryan's The Longest Day, 1959, states 'FIRST EDITION' on the copyright page). Do not assume the phrase must be 'First Printing.' A common tradition dates the onset of a routine first-issue statement to about 1952; treat that as an approximate, imperfectly-documented boundary, not a hard rule. Absence of a later-printing notice remains the most reliable single tell.

Is a book-club edition a Simon & Schuster first edition?

No. Book-club editions reprint the text but are not the true first edition. The most persistent error is treating S&S like Random House and demanding a number line that ENDS in 1. From 1981 on the signature S&S line ends in 2 ('1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2'); the test is whether 1 is the lowest number present anywhere in the line — not the final digit. (Straight ascending and descending lines also occur as firsts.)

What era does this cover?

This covers Simon & Schuster (1924–present). Conventions changed over time, so confirm the era of your copy.