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 meets all of its First Edition Points. First Edition Points are details about what a book looked like when it was initially printed as a first edition. Collectors look for first printings of first edition books because these tend to have the highest demand and the greatest potential to increase in value over time. First Edition Points help a collector identify a first edition by describing details such as a book's binding, a specific first printing typo, or a dust jacket review that can only be found on the first printing. First Edition Points are usually subtle, but they are important features that distinguish a rare first edition from a common reprint.

The most common First Edition Point 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 Point 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. 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 Points 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 points of issue by clicking on the bars at the bottom of this page. We have pages for hundreds of collectible books where we describe First Edition Points, 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.

March 08, 2010

Stallion Gate was written by Martin Cruz Smith. The first edition was published in 1986 by Random House. It was 321 pages long, and the retail price was $17.95.

The first edition points are as follows: First Edition is stated below Random House number line "24689753" AND there is no book club dot on the back boards. Boards are blue/purple with silver lettering on a navy blue spine. The ISBN is present on the lower right corner of the dust jacket back panel.

Note: while the book club dust jacket can easily be identified by lack of price and lack of ISBN, the book itself states first edition with the same number line. The only difference between the true first edition book and the book club edition book is a small embossed dot on the back of the book club boards near the spine (see photo). Click here for more photos...

March 05, 2010

American Salvage was written by Bonnie Jo Campbell. The first edition was published in 2009 by Wayne State University Press. It was 170 pages long.

The first edition can be identified by the following points: The copyright page has full number line "13 12 11 10 09 5 4 3 2 1". Format is softcover. The four reviews on the back of the first printing remained the same on the second and other early printings. These reviews are by Carolyn Chute, Rachael Perry, Laura Kasischke, and Jack Driscoll. American Salvage was published as part of Wayne State University's Made in Michigan writers series. The first printing consisted of 1,500 copies. There is no price listed anywhere on the book.

Note: American Salvage was reprinted by W. W. Norton & Company in late 2009. The Norton edition features the same cover photo by Mary Whalen, but the Norton edition uses a larger portion of the photo across the entire front cover, while the original Wayne State edition features a cropped photo that is positioned on the bottom two-thirds of the front cover. Also, the first Norton printing will have a full number line, so be careful not rely on this as your sole method of first edition identification.

American Salvage was a finalist for the National Book Award. Click here for more photos...

February 27, 2010

Eclipse was written by Stephanie Meyer. The first edition was published in 2007 by Little, Brown and Company (Megan Tingley Books). It was 629 pages long, and the retail price was $18.99.

The first edition points are as follows: "First Edition: September 2007" is stated in the middle of the copyright page, with full number line "10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1" on the bottom. The copyright page lacks any mention of a special edition, and the boards are black paper with silver lettering on the spine. Unlike the first editions of Twilight and New Moon, the author's first name is present on the book spine. But like Twilight and New Moon, the back of the dust jacket lacks any critical reviews or bestseller touts. Similar to the New Moon first issue jacket, the first issue dust jacket of Eclipse does have touts (for Twilight and New Moon) on the front cover and on the back flap. The price on the front dust jacket flap is $18.99.

Note: A special edition was published a year later. It too has a full number line, but it states "First Hardcover Edition: August 2007", followed by "First Special Edition: May 2008". The boards on the special edition are pictorial rather than black, and the dust jacket clearly states that it is a special edition. The back of the special edition dust jacket has touts, and the reverse side of the dust jacket is a full-color poster. Also, the price listed on special edition dust jacket is $19.99. Click here for more photos...

February 19, 2010

The Moviegoer was written by Walker Percy. The first edition was published in 1961 by Alfred A. Knopf. It was 242 pages long, and the retail price was $3.95. The Moviegoer won the National Book Award.

The first edition can be identified by the following points: FIRST EDITION is stated on the copyright page. Boards are slate blue with red cloth spine. Spine lettering is gold, with design in black on both front and spine. The book also has a slate blue top stain. There is a note about the author on the last page that should not mention any other books other than this, his first novel. The dust jacket has "0561" on the bottom of the front flap, and no reviews on the rear flap. Click here for more photos...

February 17, 2010

The Grapes of Wrath was written by John Steinbeck. The first edition was published in 1939 by Viking. It was 619 pages long, and the retail price was $2.75. The Grapes of Wrath won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

The first edition can be identified by the following points: First printings have a single statement on the copyright page that says "FIRST PUBLISHED IN APRIL 1939" with no statement of subsequent printings.

The first printing was large - estimated between 20,000 and 50,000. But demand is high on this highly collectible book. Also the Dust Jacket is unique to the first edition (it states "FIRST EDITION"), so it is less abundant than the book. Click here for more photos...

February 12, 2010

God and Man at Yale was written by William F. Buckley Jr.. The first edition was published in 1951 by Henry Regnery Company. It was 240 pages long, and the retail price was $3.50.

The first edition can be identified by the following points: Title and copyright pages both state 1951 with no statements of subsequent printings. Boards are navy blue with gold lettering on the spine. The dust jacket lacks any statement of printing on the front flap. The back dust jacket panel features a photo of the author followed by a 14 line biography that does not mention anything about being an Army veteran. The front of the dust jacket has the phrase the superstitions of "Academic Freedom" in black, with the first two words in all lowercase letters. Later printing dust jackets have this phrase in white with the first two words capitalized. Click here for more photos...

February 08, 2010

Presidential Agent was written by Upton Sinclair. The first edition was published in 1944 by Viking Press. It was 655 pages long, and the retail price was $3.00.

The first edition points are as follows: The first printing states "FIRST PUBLISHED BY THE VIKING PRESS IN JUNE 1944" on the copyright page. There should be no other printing statements. Boards are brick red with title and publisher's logo embossed on the front and silver lettering on the spine. Red top stain. The front dust jacket flap has reviews by Frederick L. Schuman, Thomas Mann, Bernard Shaw, Lion Feuchtwanger, and Lewis Browne. The back dust jacket flap has an advertisement for Lion Feuchtwanger's Simone.

This is volume V of the World's End series aka the "Lanny Budd" Novels. Click here for more photos...

February 01, 2010

Racing Through Paradise was written by William F. Buckley Jr.. The first edition was published in 1987 by Random House. It was 344 pages long, and the retail price was $25.00.

The first edition can be identified by the following points: First Edition is stated on the copyright page below the full Random House number line "24689753". The binding is navy blue cloth with gold lettering. The back of the dust jacket has five reviews, beginning with one by George McGovern. Mr. Buckley tended to sign this book on the front end paper.

There were 353 limited copies of the first edition that were issued in a slipcase with a signed numbered page. These copies had bindings similar to the other first editions, but they had a special pocket in the back that held a signed and edited page from the original manuscript of Racing Through Paradise. The limited edition also had a book marker ribbon, and was issued in a slipcase rather than a dust jacket. The limited editions were part of the first edition printing, and as such they had the same copyright page as the other first editions, including the full random house number line and First Edition statement. Click here for more photos...

January 30, 2010

Love Medicine was written by Louise Erdrich. The first edition was published in 1984 by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. It was 272 pages long, and the retail price was $13.95.

Here are the first edition points: First edition is stated on the copyright page with full number line "1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2". Boards are light blue with gold lettering on a black spine. First issue jacket has only three reviews by Anne Tyler, Kay Boyle, and Peter Matthiessen. Click here for more photos...

January 27, 2010

In America was written by Susan Sontag. The first edition was published in 2000 by Franklin Library. It was 387 pages long. In America won the National Book Award.

The first edition can be identified by the following points: The first edition was a limited signed edition published by the Franklin Library through a special arrangement with Farrar, Straus and Giroux. It was bound in dark green leather, and limited to 1,300 copies. It was signed by the author on a special page.

The first trade edition was published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. First edition, 2000 is stated on the copyright page with no statement of subsequent printings. Boards are orange with black lettering on front, and orange lettering on a black cloth spine. There are no reviews on the dust jacket. Click here for more photos...

January 26, 2010

Lark and Termite was written by Jayne Anne Phillips. The first edition was published in 2009 by Alfred A. Knopf. It was 254 pages long, and the retail price was $24.00.

Here are the first edition points: First Edition is stated on copyright page with no references to subsequent printings. Boards are light blue with black lettering on blue cloth spine. Back of dust jacket has three reviews - by Alice Munro, Junot Diaz, and Tim O'Brien. Click here for more photos...

January 22, 2010

New Moon was written by Stephanie Meyer. The first edition was published in 2006 by Little, Brown and Company (Megan Tingley Books). It was 563 pages long, and the retail price was $17.99.

The first edition can be identified by the following points: "First Edition: September 2006" is stated in the middle of the copyright page, with full number line "10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1" on the bottom. Boards are black paper with silver lettering on the spine. Similar to the first edition of Twilight, the author's first name is not present on the book spine, nor on the dust jacket spine; and like Twilight, the back of the dust jacket lacks any critical reviews or bestseller touts. It instead has a simple 14 line quote from the book. But unlike the Twilight first issue jacket, the first issue dust jacket of New Moon does have touts (for Twilight) on the front cover and on the back flap. The price on the front dust jacket flap is $17.99.

According to the Advance Reading Copy, the first printing of New Moon consisted of 100,000 copies.

Note: Later printings have more pages than the first edition does. This is because later editions have "sneak peek" portion of the next book in the sequel, Eclipse. This additional material may account for why the number of pages tends to vary on seller listings. Click here for more photos...

January 20, 2010

The Lovely Bones was written by Alice Sebold. The first edition was published in 2002 by Little, Brown and Company. It was 328 pages long, and the retail price was $21.95 .

The first edition can be identified by the following points: FIRST EDITION stated with number line 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 on copyright page. Boards are light blue, with white lettering on a dark blue spine. The first issue dust jacket has four review quotes on the back - from Michael Chabon, Margot Livesey, Amy Bloom, and Aimee Bender. In later issue jackets, the Livesey quote was removed, and a quote by Anna Quindlen was added at the top. The first issue jacket also lacks any statement of book-of-the-month club selection.

Note: A book-of-the-month club selection statement on the back dust jacket does not necessarily indicate that the book is a book club edition. Rather, it is simply a tout by the publisher that the book was chosen to be printed as a book club edition. Such as statement has been found on jackets from later printings of The Lovely Bones. Click here for more photos...

January 14, 2010

Twilight was written by Stephanie Meyer. The first edition was published in 2005 by Little, Brown and Company (Megan Tingley Books). It was 498 pages long, and the retail price was $17.99.

The first edition points are as follows: "First Edition: September 2005" is stated in the middle of the copyright page, with full number line "10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1" on the bottom. Boards are black paper with silver lettering on the spine. The author's first name is not present on the book spine, nor the dust jacket spine. Dust jacket lacks any critical reviews or bestseller touts. The price on the front dust jacket flap is $17.99, and there is no mention of the author's web site - www.stepheniemeyer.com on the back flap.

There is an error on page 466 where line 12 begins with "umidity" rather than "humidity". However, this is not a first edition point because it is found on all first printings and persists through at least the twelfth printing.

There is also a Scholastic Edition where the book, including the copyright page, is identical to the first edition. The only discernible differences between this edition and the true first are found on the dust jacket. The dust jacket on the Scholastic edition lacks a price on the front flap, and the back panel says "Special Scholastic Edition".

Note: Later printings have approximately 533 pages rather than the 498 pages in the first edition, and this is due the insertion of a "sneak peek" portion of the sequel, New Moon. This new material may account for why the number of pages tends to vary on seller listings.

Other Publication information: The first edition copyright page of Twilight states that Little, Brown and Company was part of the Time Warner Book Group. The book group was sold to Hachette shortly after the first edition. Consequently, later printings will state "Hachette Book Group USA". Click here for more photos...

January 12, 2010

World's End was written by T. Coraghessan Boyle. The first edition was published in 1987 by Viking. It was 456 pages long, and the retail price was $19.95.

The first edition can be identified by the following points: "First published in 1987 by Viking Penguin Inc." is stated on the coyright page with no statements of subsequent printings. Boards are light blue with gold lettering on brown cloth spine. Back of dust jacket has seven reviews by Village Voice, Andy Weinberger, Dennis Drabelle, Ronald Reed, Peter Ross, Michael Gorra, and Michiko Kakutani. Click here for more photos...

January 11, 2010

The Evening of the Holiday was written by Shirley Hazzard. The first edition was published in 1966 by Alfred A. Knopf. It was 152 pages long, and the retail price was $3.95.

Here are the first edition points: FIRST EDITION is stated on the copyright page and 1966 is stated on the title page. Boards are gray-green with red cloth spine and gold lettering. Back panel of dust jacket has six reviews for Cliffs of Fall. The back dust jacket flap has a photo and bio of the author. the front dust jacket flap has a review by Paul Horgan on the upper corner near the price. The jacket design was by George Salter. Click here for more photos...

January 10, 2010

Capable of Honor was written by Allen Drury. The first edition was published in 1966 by Doubleday. It was 531 pages long, and the retail price was $5.95.

The first edition can be identified by the following points: First Edition is stated on the copyright page with no refereneces to subsequent printings nor any dates other than 1966. Title page also states 1966. Binding is black cloth with gold lettering on the spine. Black dust jacket has photo of the author above his bio on the back panel. There are no reviews anywhere on the dust jacket. Capable of Honor is the third volume in a series that began with Advise and Consent. Click here for more photos...

January 09, 2010

Marriages and Infidelities was written by Joyce Carol Oates. The first edition was published in 1972 by Vanguard Press. It was 497 pages long, and the retail price was $7.95.

The first edition points are as follows: Copyright page has no statements of subsequent printings. Brown cloth boards with gold lettering and a white across the front and spine. Dust jacket has a photo of the author on the back without reviews. Click here for more photos...

January 05, 2010

The Early Stories: 1953-1975 was written by John Updike. The first edition was published in 2003 by Alfred A. Knopf. It was 838 pages long, and the retail price was $35.00.

The first edition points are as follows: First Edition is stated on the copyright page, and 2003 is stated on the title page. Binding is blue cloth with gold and silver lettering on spine, and red top stain. Dust jacket has photo of the author on the back panel with no reviews. Back dust jacket flap has three reviews (by New York Post, The Saturday Review, and The Nation) and biography of the author. Front dust jacket flap has a review by The Hudson Review. Click here for more photos...

December 31, 2009

Babbitt was written by Sinclair Lewis. The first edition was published in 1922 by Harcourt, Brace and Company. It was 401 pages long, and the retail price was $2.00.

The first edition can be identified by the following points: Copyright page states "Copyright, 1922, by Harcourt, Brace, and Company, Inc." with no references to subsequent printings, and "Printed in the U.S.A. by the Quinn & Boden Company Rahway, N.J." on the bottom. Boards are blue cloth with orange lettering and orange outlines. The back panel of the dust jacket is an order form for recent Harcourt books. The instructions say to "fill out this order blank and send to your bookseller," which might account for the lack of dust jackets available for this book. The publication date for Babbitt was September 14, 1922.

There were two first edition issues (or states) of Babbitt. The first issue has "Supposing Purdy" on line 4 of page 49, and "my fellow human" on line 5 of the same page. the second issue has "Supposing Lyte" on line 4, and "any fellow human" on line 5. These changes were made during the first printing. The first issue is preferred by collectors.

While the points on page 49 are alone enough to identify a first issue, there are other errors that are sometimes pointed out by book sellers. These include "Pennies" changed to "Penny" on page 271 (line 11) and "I means" changed to "I mean" on page 85 (lines 4 and 5). They are interesting corrections, but they are redundant and unnecessary for first issue identification.

All first and early editions have a dedication to Edith Wharton - it is not a first edition point. But it is interesting that Lewis decided to dedicate Babbitt to Edith Wharton. It was likely influenced by the fact that Wharton's Age of Innocence won the Pulitzer Prize over Lewis' Main Street. What made this particular award so difficult is that the Pulitzer jury recommended Main Street, but the Pulitzer board unanimously overturned the jury's recommendation. 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 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.