A reminder repost:
From the Collected Works of Booksellers' Hints . . .
A "first edition" is not a reprint.
A "first edition" is not a later printing.
A "first edition" is not the "first thus".
A "first edition" is not a book club edition [usually, almost always].
A "first edition" is not a new edition.
A "first edition" is not a "first illustrated edition".
A "first edition" is not what a lot of amateurs think it is.
A "first edition" is not always what a publisher thinks is a first edition.
Publishers do what they do for their convenience and not ours.
To a collector, a "first edition" is the first printing of the first edition. Preferably, the first state of the first issue of the first printing of the first edition.
To a publisher, a "first edition" is any printing done with the original type [regardless of what method they may have used].
For our purposes as bookdealers, we go with the collectors' definition, except in some very few special cases where the collectors themselves have modified the parameters, such as the entire run of printings of the first editions of SECURITY ANALYSIS or of ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS.
There are many instances of books actually stating that they are "First Edition"s when they are not first printings of the first editions. For example, all of the 69 odd printings of THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY state "First Edition" on the copyright page, along with the numberline. Another example is THE REIVERS by William Faulkner where the book club edition was issued by the publisher without removing the "First Edition" statement from the copyright page. In fact, there are many book club editions which look just like the regular edition, even to the inclusion of a "First Edition" statement and/or numberline, but can only be identified as a book club edition by the lack of a price on the dustjacket or an inferior binding or the presence of the "book club" blindstamp on the rear cover at the lower right hand corner [an indentation in the shape of a dot or circle or square or mapleleaf].
Another tripwire are the Taiwan piracy editions, which may say "First Edition" years after the fact. Also, sometimes the publisher will reissue the book and state that it is a "First Printing" when it clearly is not. And, somesometimes a publisher will put out a new edition and do the same. And sometimes a different publisher will put out their edition of a book and call it a "First Edition" when it aint. It's very confusing!
The bottom line is, yes, it is up to us to properly determine and identify the book. If you say it's a "First Edition" you had better mean that it's a first printing of the first edition or else you'll be wrong.
There are a very few exceptions to this rule [as stated above], and you had better explain them carefully if you want to sell a dubious. In antiquarian books, the situation becomes murkier, but even then, you need to explain the difference between printings and/or editions to the best of your ability.
There is no substitute for class.
[Satnrose]
