We are an online reference guide providing collectors the details
necessary to help identify modern first edition books.

The key to establishing a book's value is to first ensure that it is a first edition. A first editions is the earliest printed copy of a published book. Collectors look for first edition books because these tend to have the highest demand and the greatest potential to increase in value over time. There are standard identification criteria that first editions conform because most, but not all, first edition books follow an established identification method established by each book publisher. These first edition criteria are details about what a book looked like when it was initially printed as a first edition. These details include details such as certain codes on the copyright page, the type of the binding, and particular text on the dust jacket.

In addition to the first edition criteria, there are sometimes points of issue that describe some part of a book which changes during the first printing without the standard first edition identification of the publisher changing, thus creating some copies of the first edition that have the point, and some that do not have the point. The most common type of first edition points of issue are typographical mistakes that were changed during the first printing. In these cases, the copies with the mistake are more desirable because they represent the earliest state of a first edition.

The fedpo.com website helps a collector understand the identification criteria and any first edition points of issue by describing details such as a book's binding, a specific typographical error, or a dust jacket review that can only be found on the earliest printings. First edition criteria and points of issue are usually subtle, but they are important features that distinguish a rare first edition from a common reprint.

The most common first edition criteria can be found on a book's copyright page. The copyright page may say that a book is a first edition, or a first printing, or first impression; and it may state additional printing information, or it may provide a printing code indicating what printing a book is from. Each publisher has used various methods over the years to indicate a book's edition and printing. Another common first edition indicator is a book's cover price, which is typically printed on the dust jacket. The presence of a price on a dust jacket is also the most fundamental way to ensure that the dust jacket is not from a book club edition or other type of reprint. Book club editions look similar to genuine first editions, but they are not first editions, and they have very little collectible value.

To find first edition criteria for a specific book, simply type in the name of the book, or the name of the author in the fields above; or browse all of our available entries by clicking on the bars at the bottom of this page. We have pages for hundreds of collectible books where we describe first edition criteria, provide photographs of known first editions, and provide pre-filled eBay, AbeBooks, and Biblio search links for each book so you can quickly establish its most recent market value.

January 07, 2012

The Russian Debutante's Handbook was written by Gary Shteyngart. The first edition was published in 2002 by Riverhead Books. It was 452 pages long, and the retail price was $24.95.

The first edition can be identified by the following criteria: Copyright page has full number line "1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2", and 2002 is stated on the title page. Boards are blue/green with gold lettering on a black spine. Front flap of dust jack has a single review from Kirkus Reviews. Back of dust jacket has two reviews - bt Chang-rae Lee and David Gates. Click here for more photos...

January 06, 2012

The Black Prince was written by Shirley Ann Grau. The first edition was published in 1955 by Alfred A. Knopf. It was 294 pages long, and the retail price was $3.50.

The first edition criteria are as follows: FIRST EDITION is stated on the copyright page, and 1955 is stated on the title page. Boards are light gray with maroon lettering on a yellow cloth spine. Top stain is red. Dust jacket has a photo of the author on the front, with the decription - "Nine stories by a young author who has a joy in writing and a rare vitality. Back of dust jacket has just a single review by Harriette Simpson Arnow, author of The Dollmaker. Click here for more photos...

December 17, 2011

Truman was written by David McCullough. The first edition was published in 1992 by Simon and Schuster. It was 1117 pages long, and the retail price was $30.00. Truman won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography.

The first edition can be identified by the following criteria: Copyright page has full number line "1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2". Boards are light blue with TRUMAN blind embossed on the front, and with silver lettering on a dark blue cloth spine. Dust jacket has no review blurbs and does not mention being a bestseller or winning the Pulitzer Prize. Click here for more photos...

December 06, 2011

The Godfather was written by Mario Puzo. The first edition was published in 1969 by Putnam. It was 446 pages long, and the retail price was $6.95.

Here are the first edition criteria: Copyright page states Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 69-11465 on the top, and printed by American Book-Stratford Press on the bottom, with no statements of additional impressions. Boards are white with a gold design on the front of a hand holding puppet strings, and gold lettering on a black cloth spine. Endpapers are brick-red. The first issue dust jacket is the same through at least the eight printing (the publisher uses the term "impression" instead of printing). The front and back of the dust jacket have the same design, and lack any reviews. The front flap of the dust jacket has a price on the top, and 6903 on the bottom which indicates the book was published in March of 1969. The back flap has three reviews for The Dark Arena, and two reviews for The Fortunate Pilgrim (including one by Joseph Heller.) Click here for more photos...

November 07, 2011

The Help was written by Kathryn Stockett. The first edition was published in 2009 by Putnam. It was 444 pages long, and the retail price was $24.95.

The first edition can be identified by the following criteria: Copyright page has full number line "1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2" and ISBN 978-0-399-15534-5. Boards are cream with yellow spine and gold lettering. Dust Jacket lacks bestseller or deluxe edition blurbs. Back of dust jacket has 7 reviews - by Adriana Trigiani, Marian Keyes, Beth Henley, Robert Hicks, Joshilyn Jackson, Jill Conner Browne, and Dorothea Benton Frank. Front of dust jacket has gold foil trim around the front title, and gold foil on the dust jack spine which makes it susceptible to bumps and dents. Click here for more photos...

November 06, 2011

The Tiger's Wife was written by Tea Obreht. The first edition was published in 2011 by Random House. It was 338 pages long, and the retail price was $25.00.

The first edition criteria are as follows: First Edition is stated on copyright page below full number line "2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3 1". Boards are black with gold lettering. Dust jacket has one review by Colum McCann on the front, and two reviews on the back - by T.C. Boyle and Ann Patchett.

Note: The Tiger's wife was published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson in the UK 5 days before the Random House U.S. edition. However it appears that the original rights were sold to Random House, and Random House was the main publisher who performed the editing. This is evident by the fact that the UK edition has American spelling. The author's own website (www.teaobreht.com) reinforces this by listing only the Random House edition on her site, and linking only to the Random House website. Click here for more photos...

November 05, 2011

The Art of Fielding was written by Chad Harbach. The first edition was published in 2011 by Little, Brown. It was 512 pages long, and the retail price was $25.99.

The first edition can be identified by the following criteria: First Edition: September 2011 is stated in the middle of the copyright page, and full number line 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 is present on the bottom of the copyright page. Board are navy blue cloth with Little Brown logo embossed on the front and silver lettering on the spine. Front of dust jacket has a quote from Jonanthan Franzen, which is taken from his review on the back of the dust jacket. Back of dust jacket has five reviews - by James Patterson, David James Duncan, Jay McInerney, Nicholas Dawidoff, and Jonathan Franzen. Click here for more photos...

November 04, 2011

Like Water for Chocolate was written by Laura Esquivel. The first edition was published in 1992 by Doubleday. It was 246 pages long, and the retail price was $17.50.

The first edition criteria are as follows: The true first edition was published in Mexico in 1989 as "Como Agua Para chocolate". The first U.S. edition was published by Doubleday in 1992. The first edition points for this U.S. edition are as follows:

FIRST EDITION is stated on the copyright page below full number line "1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2". Boards are brown with gold lettering on a brown cloth spine. Front of Dust jacket lacks a yellow oval cirle that in later printings has either a review by USA Today, or a statement that says "NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE FROM Miramax". Back of dust jacket has a photo of the author, and three reviews - by Sandra Cisneros, Diana Kennedy, and Elena Poniatowska. Click here for more photos...

October 11, 2011

Star Spangled Summer was written by Janet Lambert. The first edition was published in 1941 by Dutton and Company. It was 281 pages long, and the retail price was $2.00.

The first edition can be identified by the following criteria: FIRST EDITION is stated on the copyright page, and 1941 is stated on the bottom of the title page. Boards are brick red cloth with black lettering. Dust jacket also states FIRST EDITION on the bottom of the front flap, next to the the price.

Author's first book, and considered by many to be her finest. This book also became the first in the Penny Parrish series followed by Dreams of Glory in 1942, Glory Be! in 1943, Up Goes the Curtain in 1946, Practically Perfect in 1947, and The Reluctant Heart in 1950.

The first edition was illustrated by Sandra James. Click here for more photos...

September 30, 2011

The Peter Principle was written by Laurence J. Peter. The first edition was published in 1969 by William Morrow and Company. It was 179 pages long, and the retail price was $4.95.

The first edition criteria are as follows: There are no dots underneath the Library of Congress Catalog Card Number on the copyright page, and no references to subsequent printings. Boards are red with gold lettering on a black cloth spine, with red top stain and yellow endpapers. Dust jacket contains no reviews, and the jacket design credit by S. A. Summit is found on the bottom of the front flap.

Later printings lack the red top stain, and are noted by dots under the Library of Congress Catalog Card Number on the copyright page. Later issue dust jackets have reviews by Richard Armour and Charles Schulz on the front flap, and R. Buckminster Fuller on the back flap. Later issue dust jackets also have the jacket design credit on the back flap. Click here for more photos...

August 27, 2011

The Perfect Storm was written by Sebastian Junger. The first edition was published in 1997 by Norton & Company, Inc.. It was 227 pages long, and the retail price was $23.95.

The first edition can be identified by the following criteria: First Edition is stated at top of copyright page, and there is a full number line 1 2 3 4 5 6 8 9 0 on the bottom of the copyright page. Boards are gray with black and silver lettering on a red cloth spine. Dust jacket has two reviews on the back - Patrick O'Brian and Dava Sobel. Dust jacket does not mention the book book being a bestseller, or that it is now a major motion picture. Click here for more photos...

August 20, 2011

The Golden Apples was written by Eudora Welty. The first edition was published in 1949 by Harcourt, Brace and Company. It was 244 pages long, and the retail price was $3.00.

Here are the first edition criteria: first edition is stated on the copyright page. Boards are green with gold lettering on a maroon cloth spine. The first state dust jacket lacks any reviews on the front or back flaps. Later issue jackets have a review by Francis Steegmuller on the front flap, and a review by Hamilton Basso on the back flap. Click here for more photos...

July 22, 2011

The Secret Life of Bees was written by Sue Monk Kidd. The first edition was published in 2002 by Viking. It was 302 pages long, and the retail price was $24.95.

The first edition can be identified by the following criteria: First published in 2002 by Viking Penguin is stated on the copyright page with full numberline 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 and ISBN 0-670-89460-5. Boards are yellow with gold lettering on orange paper covered spine. Dust jacket lacks Good Morning America "Read This" logo. Ten reviews on the dust jacket back - Anita Shreve, Anne Rivers Siddons, Luanne Rice, Josephine Humphreys, Connie May Fowler, Christina Schwarz, Ursula Hegi, Joanna Trollope, Shelby Hearon, and Susan Isaacs.

Note: The Good Morning America edition also states First published in 2002 by Viking Penguin, and has the same full number line as the true first edition. But it has a different ISBN - 0-670-03237-9 on the copyright page. Click here for more photos...

July 19, 2011

Pilgrim At Tinker Creek was written by Annie Dillard. The first edition was published in 1974 by Harper and Row. It was 271 pages long, and the retail price was $7.95. Pilgrim At Tinker Creek won the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction.

The first edition criteria are as follows: FIRST U.S. EDITION is stated on the copyright page, and complete number line 74 75 76 77 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 is present on the last blank page. Boards are brown cloth. Dust jacket has $7.95 price on the upper right corner of the front flap. No reviews on the back panel.

The book club edition also states FIRST U.S. EDITION. However it lacks the number line on the last blank page, and typically has a book club blind stamp on the back board. Click here for more photos...

May 07, 2011

Love Songs was written by Sara Teasdale. The first edition was published in 1917 by Macmillan. It was 91 pages long, and the retail price was $1.75. Love Songs won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.

The first edition can be identified by the following criteria: 1917 is printed on the title page, and the latest year on the copyright page is 1917 with no statement of reprints. Boards are blue cloth with gilt design and lettering on the spine and front. The design on the dust jacket matches the design on the front board. The dust jacket has six reviews on the front flap, with a price on the bottom corner. The back panel and back flap of the dust jacket are blank.

This first Pulitzer winner for poetry was awarded through the Pulitzer Prize�Board by way of an endowment from the Poetry Foundation. The same arrangement occurred in the following year of 1919, when both Carl Sandburg's 1918 anthology Cornhuskers, and Margaret Widdemer's narrative poems Old Road to Paradise were similarly singled out by the Pulitzer Prize Board.� There were then no awards in poetry under Pulitzer Prize Board auspices until 1922, when "the best book of verse of the previous year" became a permanent part of Pulitzer Prize literary honors. Click here for more photos...

April 23, 2011

The Emperor Of All Maladies was written by Siddhartha Mukherjee. The first edition was published in 2010 by Scribner. It was 571 pages long, and the retail price was $30.00. The Emperor Of All Maladies won the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction.

The first edition can be identified by the following criteria: Copyright page has full number line "1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2". Boards are cream with speckles, and gold lettering on a black cloth spine. Front of dust jacket lacks any mention that the book was one of The New York Times 10 Best Books. Back of dust jacket has five reviews - by Tony Judt, David Rieff, Bert Vogelstein, George Canellos, and Andrew Solomon. The dust jacket front flap has two reviews - by Adam Hochschild and Donald Berry. Click here for more photos...

April 22, 2011

The Orchard Keeper was written by Cormac McCarthy. The first edition was published in 1965 by Random House. It was 246 pages long, and the retail price was $4.95.

The first edition criteria are as follows: First Printing is stated on the copyright page. Boards are cranberry with gold gilt lettering on a green cloth spine, and "CM" embossed in gold gilt on the front board. The dust jacket has 5 reviews - by Warren Beck, Malcolm Cowley, Ralph Ellison, James A. Michener, and Robert Penn Warren.

The first and second printing dust jackets are identical. However every second printing jacket we have seen has been price clipped. The clips were possibly made by the publisher so they could increase the price (the second printing was made at least three years after the first printing). Click here for more photos...

April 18, 2011

A Visit from the Goon Squad was written by Jennifer Egan. The first edition was published in 2010 by Alfred A. Knopf. It was 274 pages long, and the retail price was $25.95. A Visit from the Goon Squad won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

The first edition can be identified by the following criteria: First Edition is stated at the bottom of the copyright page, and 2010 is stated on the title page. Boards are black with silver lettering on the spine. Dust jacket has two reviews (advance praise) for the book, and five reviews for the author's previous book, The Keep. Click here for more photos...

February 14, 2011

Scarlet Sister Mary was written by Julia Peterkin. The first edition was published in 1928 by Bobbs-Merrill. It was 345 pages long, and the retail price was $2.50. Scarlet Sister Mary won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

Here are the first edition criteria: "First Edition" is stated on the copyright page. Book has red paper labeled titles on front and spine. Some later printings do not have paper labels. First issue dust jacket is black with black lettering in a red box. It has no reference to the Pulitzer Prize. The dust jacket is extremely rare and adds most of the value to the book. Later dust jackets are red and have "Pulitzer Prize Novel" printed on the front in a script font.

Note: the so called "Airplane Edition" is NOT the first edition. These were limited signed editions that have an airplane on the front board and were produced after the first edition. Click here for more photos...

January 23, 2011

The Kenworthys was written by Margaret Wilson. The first edition was published in 1925 by Harper & Brothers. It was 385 pages long, and the retail price was $2.00.

The first edition criteria are as follows: "First Edition" and "F-Z" (the code for June 1925) is stated on the copyright page, and 1925 is printed on the title page. Boards are green cloth with a pattern on the front and gold lettering. The dust jacket is in the same style as the author's previous book, with the same design pattern around the front. The dust jacket states "By the Author of THE ABLE McLAUGHLINS Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1923". The back of the dust jacket has advertisements for four books of "Distinguished Fiction". These are Clara Barron, Manhattan Transfer, Bread and Circuses, and The Harper Prize Short Stories. The back dust jacket flap has an advertisement for AT THE SIGN OF THE GOAT AND COMPASSES by Martin Armstrong. Click here for more photos...

This website is intended to help guide you and give you insight into what to look for when identifying first editions. As such, the information presented here may not always be 100% accurate. Gathering and updating information about these books is more an art than a science, so some of our first edition criteria and points may be wrong. If you spot a mistake, drop us an e-mail and we will do our best to investigate and fix it.

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We are an online reference guide providing collectors the details necessary to help identify modern first edition books.

We are an online reference guide providing collectors the details
necessary to help identify modern first edition books.