First edition
Encyclopedia
The bibliographical definition of an edition includes all copies of a book
printed “from substantially the same setting of type
,” including all minor typographical
variants.
According to the definition of edition above, a book printed today, by the same publisher, and from the same type as when it was first published, is still the first edition of that book to a bibliographer
. However, book collectors generally use the term first edition to mean specifically the first print run of the first edition (aka "first edition, first impression"). Since World War II, books often include a number line (printers key
) that indicates the print run.
A "first edition" per se is not a valuable collectible book. A popular work may be published and reprinted over time by many publishers, and in a variety of formats. There will be a first edition of each, which the publisher may cite on the copyright page, such as: "First mass market paperback edition". The first edition of a facsimile reprint is the reprint publisher's first edition, but not the first edition of the work itself.
Publishers often use the same typesetting for the hardcover
and trade paperback versions of a book. These books have different covers, the title page
and copyright page may differ, and the page margin sizes may differ (same type area, smaller trim), but to a bibliographer they are the same edition.
From time to time, readers may observe an error in the text (or, in the days of metal type, a piece of broken type), and report these to the publisher. The publisher typically keeps these reprint corrections in a file pending demand for a new print run of the edition, and before the new run is printed, they will be entered.
The method of entry, obviously, depends on the method of typesetting. For letterpress metal
, it typically meant resetting a few characters or a line or two. For Linotype
, it meant casting a new line for any line with a change in it. With film, it involved cutting out a bit of the film and inserting a new bit. In an electronic file, it means entering the changes digitally.
Such minor changes do not constitute a new edition, but introduce typographical variations within an edition, which are of interest to collectors.
's The Catcher in the Rye
remains in print in hardcover. The type is the same as the 1951 first printing, therefore all hardcover copies are, for the bibliographer, the first edition. Collectors would use the term for the first printing only.
First edition most often refers to the first commercial publication of a work between its own covers, even if it was first printed in a periodical: the complete text of Ernest Hemingway
’s The Old Man and the Sea
appeared in the September 1, 1952 issue of Life magazine, yet the generally accepted “first” edition is the hardcover book Scribner’s published on September 8, 1952.
The term "first trade edition," refers to the earliest edition of a book offered for sale to the general public in book stores. For example, Upton Sinclair
's 1906 novel The Jungle
was published in two variant forms. A "Sustainers' Edition", published by the Jungle Publishing Company, was sent to subscribers who had advanced funds to Sinclair. The first trade edition was published by Doubleday, Page to be sold in bookstores.
A small minority of book collectors, particularly in the science fiction field, hold that the earliest bound copies of a book—promotional advance copies
: bound galleys, uncorrected proofs, advance reading copies sent by publishers to book reviewers and booksellers—are the true first edition.
Non-fiction, academic and textbook
publishers generally distinguish between revisions of the text, usually citing the dates of the first and latest editions on the copyright page. However, even this rule of thumb is sometimes bent. A new textbook with a different format, title, and authors may be called a "second edition" because a previous textbook is being counted as the first, despite being essentially a different book (sharing only the subject with the new one). This stretch of the definition is done for its marketing effect, because the new textbook may seem more authoritative to the potential buyer if it implies that there have been "previous editions".
Conversely, they may decide to call a version that is really not very different a "new edition" (n+1th).
The qualitative difference, then, between a "revised edition" and a "new edition" is subjective. This is analogous to the way that software publishers may call one update "version 3.7" but call the next update "version 4" instead of "version 3.8". The difference is their subjective sense of the significance of the change—that is, whether the differences constitute something very different or merely slightly different. Sometimes the distinction has more to do with marketing than with sound reasoning (that is, encouraging buyers to think that something slightly different is very different).
The logic of co-editions has often been to use the existing distribution systems of the different publishers in each country rather than establishing new distribution systems.
Advancing IT
and the globalization of publishing have been blurring the lines of what co-edition means. For example, anything published online is effectively published worldwide. Also, large multinational publishers now have existing distribution systems for their hardcopy books in many countries, so they don't need to partner with other companies. They may issue a book under a different imprint for each country, but the imprints are parts of the same parent corporation. The actual manufacturing of the books may be done in China regardless of where the copies will be sold.
Each batch of copies printed is termed a print run, printing run, printing, impression, or press run. This is all of the copies produced by a single set-up of the production equipment. One edition can have any number of print runs. Poor-selling books may have only one. Very successful books may have 50 or more.
A publisher hopes to recoup a large amount of the book's initial costs from the sale of the book's first print run. A variety of commercial and logistic factors are thus considered in deciding the number of books in a print run, and their unit price.
Demand for additional print runs after the first is always hoped for, because they increase the book's overall profitability. Once the fixed costs of developing, editing, typesetting, etc., have been covered by the first sales revenue, any additional sales revenue tends to add to the profit margin (minus, of course, the costs of the additional materials, printing, binding, and distribution).
Sometimes a print run will be unsatisfactory for some reason, particularly with art and photography books where reproduction quality is paramount. It is usually destroyed by being pulped, but occasionally a defective print run may be shipped to a distant overseas market and sold there cheaply, depending on shipping costs.
If sales of the book do not meet expectations, the remaining stock of a print run will be remaindered
. When a print run is sold out, the title is either reprint
ed or becomes out of print
. Some print on demand
and e-book
publishers keep all their titles perpetually in print.
Seconds are imperfect or damaged copies which are set aside from a print run. These will usually have their dust jacket
clipped or marked in some way.
From time to time, readers may observe an error in the text and report these to the publisher. The publisher typically keeps these reprint corrections in a file pending demand for a new print run of the edition, and before the new run is printed, they will be entered. This is one of the factors that puts the "substantially" into the definition of "substantially the same setting of type".
defines a published edition to mean a published edition of the whole or any part of one or more literary, dramatic or musical works.
It thus protects the publisher's investment in typesetting, as well as the processes of design and selection that are reflected in the appearance of the text. It also covers modern editions of public domain works (such as the complete works of Shakespeare), and prohibits the reproduction of the layout (but not the work itself).
Book
A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...
printed “from substantially the same setting of type
Typesetting
Typesetting is the composition of text by means of types.Typesetting requires the prior process of designing a font and storing it in some manner...
,” including all minor typographical
Typography
Typography is the art and technique of arranging type in order to make language visible. The arrangement of type involves the selection of typefaces, point size, line length, leading , adjusting the spaces between groups of letters and adjusting the space between pairs of letters...
variants.
First edition
Bibliographer
"A bibliographer is a person who describes and lists books and other publications, with particular attention to such characteristics as authorship, publication date, edition, typography, etc. The result of this endeavor is a bibliography...
. However, book collectors generally use the term first edition to mean specifically the first print run of the first edition (aka "first edition, first impression"). Since World War II, books often include a number line (printers key
Printers key
The printer’s key, also known as the number line, is a line of text printed on the copyright page of books, used to indicate the print run. Publishers started to use this convention around the middle of the 20th century....
) that indicates the print run.
A "first edition" per se is not a valuable collectible book. A popular work may be published and reprinted over time by many publishers, and in a variety of formats. There will be a first edition of each, which the publisher may cite on the copyright page, such as: "First mass market paperback edition". The first edition of a facsimile reprint is the reprint publisher's first edition, but not the first edition of the work itself.
Bibliographical definition
The classic explanation of edition was given by Fredson Bowers in Principles of Bibliographical Description (1949). Bowers wrote that an edition is “the whole number of copies printed at any time or times from substantially the same setting of type-pages,” including “all issues and variant states existing within its basic type-setting, as well as all impressions.”Publishers often use the same typesetting for the hardcover
Hardcover
A hardcover, hardback or hardbound is a book bound with rigid protective covers...
and trade paperback versions of a book. These books have different covers, the title page
Title page
The title page of a book, thesis or other written work is the page at or near the front which displays its title and author, usually together with information relating to the publication of the book...
and copyright page may differ, and the page margin sizes may differ (same type area, smaller trim), but to a bibliographer they are the same edition.
From time to time, readers may observe an error in the text (or, in the days of metal type, a piece of broken type), and report these to the publisher. The publisher typically keeps these reprint corrections in a file pending demand for a new print run of the edition, and before the new run is printed, they will be entered.
The method of entry, obviously, depends on the method of typesetting. For letterpress metal
Letterpress printing
Letterpress printing is relief printing of text and image using a press with a "type-high bed" printing press and movable type, in which a reversed, raised surface is inked and then pressed into a sheet of paper to obtain a positive right-reading image...
, it typically meant resetting a few characters or a line or two. For Linotype
Linotype machine
The Linotype typesetting machine is a "line casting" machine used in printing. The name of the machine comes from the fact that it produces an entire line of metal type at once, hence a line-o'-type, a significant improvement over manual typesetting....
, it meant casting a new line for any line with a change in it. With film, it involved cutting out a bit of the film and inserting a new bit. In an electronic file, it means entering the changes digitally.
Such minor changes do not constitute a new edition, but introduce typographical variations within an edition, which are of interest to collectors.
Collectors' definition
A common complaint of book collectors is that the bibliographer's definition is used in a book-collecting context. For example, J. D. SalingerJ. D. Salinger
Jerome David Salinger was an American author, best known for his 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye, as well as his reclusive nature. His last original published work was in 1965; he gave his last interview in 1980....
's The Catcher in the Rye
The Catcher in the Rye
The Catcher in the Rye is a 1951 novel by J. D. Salinger. Originally published for adults, it has since become popular with adolescent readers for its themes of teenage confusion, angst, alienation, language, and rebellion. It has been translated into almost all of the world's major...
remains in print in hardcover. The type is the same as the 1951 first printing, therefore all hardcover copies are, for the bibliographer, the first edition. Collectors would use the term for the first printing only.
First edition most often refers to the first commercial publication of a work between its own covers, even if it was first printed in a periodical: the complete text of Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...
’s The Old Man and the Sea
The Old Man and the Sea
The Old Man and the Sea is a novel written by American author Ernest Hemingway in 1951 in Cuba, and published in 1952. It was the last major work of fiction to be produced by Hemingway and published in his lifetime. One of his most famous works, it centers upon Santiago, an aging fisherman who...
appeared in the September 1, 1952 issue of Life magazine, yet the generally accepted “first” edition is the hardcover book Scribner’s published on September 8, 1952.
The term "first trade edition," refers to the earliest edition of a book offered for sale to the general public in book stores. For example, Upton Sinclair
Upton Sinclair
Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. , was an American author who wrote close to one hundred books in many genres. He achieved popularity in the first half of the twentieth century, acquiring particular fame for his classic muckraking novel, The Jungle . It exposed conditions in the U.S...
's 1906 novel The Jungle
The Jungle
The Jungle is a 1906 novel written by journalist Upton Sinclair. Sinclair wrote the novel with the intention of portraying the life of the immigrant in the United States, but readers were more concerned with the large portion of the book pertaining to the corruption of the American meatpacking...
was published in two variant forms. A "Sustainers' Edition", published by the Jungle Publishing Company, was sent to subscribers who had advanced funds to Sinclair. The first trade edition was published by Doubleday, Page to be sold in bookstores.
A small minority of book collectors, particularly in the science fiction field, hold that the earliest bound copies of a book—promotional advance copies
Advance copy
As a marketing tool, publishers provide free copies of new titles to booksellers, journalists and even celebrities.Such books are variously referred to as readers editions, an advance copy, an advance reading copy, ARC or ARE...
: bound galleys, uncorrected proofs, advance reading copies sent by publishers to book reviewers and booksellers—are the true first edition.
Publishers' definition
Publishers use the term first edition for their own purposes, with little consistency. The "first edition" of a trade book may be the first edition by the current publisher, or the first edition with a particular set of illustrations or editorial commentary.Non-fiction, academic and textbook
Textbook
A textbook or coursebook is a manual of instruction in any branch of study. Textbooks are produced according to the demands of educational institutions...
publishers generally distinguish between revisions of the text, usually citing the dates of the first and latest editions on the copyright page. However, even this rule of thumb is sometimes bent. A new textbook with a different format, title, and authors may be called a "second edition" because a previous textbook is being counted as the first, despite being essentially a different book (sharing only the subject with the new one). This stretch of the definition is done for its marketing effect, because the new textbook may seem more authoritative to the potential buyer if it implies that there have been "previous editions".
Revised edition
The terms revised edition and nth edition, revised are sometimes used by publishers when the book has been editorially revised or updated but for some reason the author or publisher does not want to call it the n+1th edition (where n = previous edition number).Conversely, they may decide to call a version that is really not very different a "new edition" (n+1th).
The qualitative difference, then, between a "revised edition" and a "new edition" is subjective. This is analogous to the way that software publishers may call one update "version 3.7" but call the next update "version 4" instead of "version 3.8". The difference is their subjective sense of the significance of the change—that is, whether the differences constitute something very different or merely slightly different. Sometimes the distinction has more to do with marketing than with sound reasoning (that is, encouraging buyers to think that something slightly different is very different).
Co-edition
The basic definition of a co-edition is when two publishing houses publish the same edition of a book (or equivalent versions of an edition, for example, translated versions), simultaneously or near-simultaneously, usually in different countries. Some examples:- An English-language edition, from the same plates, films, or files, may be published in different anglophone countries by different publishing companies. For example, Arms & Armour Press in the UK and Stackpole Books in the U.S. published co-editions of various monographs on military matters.
- A French-language novel published in France this year by a French publisher could become an English-language translation published in the U.S. next year by a U.S. publisher.
The logic of co-editions has often been to use the existing distribution systems of the different publishers in each country rather than establishing new distribution systems.
Advancing IT
Information technology
Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
and the globalization of publishing have been blurring the lines of what co-edition means. For example, anything published online is effectively published worldwide. Also, large multinational publishers now have existing distribution systems for their hardcopy books in many countries, so they don't need to partner with other companies. They may issue a book under a different imprint for each country, but the imprints are parts of the same parent corporation. The actual manufacturing of the books may be done in China regardless of where the copies will be sold.
e-dition
The term e-dition, a play on the e-for-electronic prefix, has been used by various publishers to refer to various ideas, which include:- The hardcopy book's content posted online, fully searchable
- Supplemental online-only content for buyers of the hardcopy book
- Online-only publishing (no hardcopy distribution)
- Proprietary-format digital publication (e-bookE-bookAn electronic book is a book-length publication in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, and produced on, published through, and readable on computers or other electronic devices. Sometimes the equivalent of a conventional printed book, e-books can also be born digital...
s) for use in specialized hardware for reading the book (e-book readerE-book readerAn e-book reader, also called an e-book device or e-reader, is a mobile electronic device that is designed primarily for the purpose of reading digital e-books and periodicals....
s)
Print run
Each batch of copies printed is termed a print run, printing run, printing, impression, or press run. This is all of the copies produced by a single set-up of the production equipment. One edition can have any number of print runs. Poor-selling books may have only one. Very successful books may have 50 or more.
A publisher hopes to recoup a large amount of the book's initial costs from the sale of the book's first print run. A variety of commercial and logistic factors are thus considered in deciding the number of books in a print run, and their unit price.
Demand for additional print runs after the first is always hoped for, because they increase the book's overall profitability. Once the fixed costs of developing, editing, typesetting, etc., have been covered by the first sales revenue, any additional sales revenue tends to add to the profit margin (minus, of course, the costs of the additional materials, printing, binding, and distribution).
Sometimes a print run will be unsatisfactory for some reason, particularly with art and photography books where reproduction quality is paramount. It is usually destroyed by being pulped, but occasionally a defective print run may be shipped to a distant overseas market and sold there cheaply, depending on shipping costs.
If sales of the book do not meet expectations, the remaining stock of a print run will be remaindered
Remaindered book
Remaindered books are books that are no longer selling well and whose remaining unsold copies are being liquidated by the publisher at greatly reduced prices...
. When a print run is sold out, the title is either reprint
Reprint
A reprint is a re-publishing of material that has already been previously published. The word reprint is used in many fields.-Academic publishing:...
ed or becomes out of print
Out of print
Out of print refers to an item, typically a book , but can include any print or visual media or sound recording, that is in the state of no longer being published....
. Some print on demand
Print on demand
Print on demand , sometimes called, in error, publish on demand, is a printing technology and business process in which new copies of a book are not printed until an order has been received...
and e-book
E-book
An electronic book is a book-length publication in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, and produced on, published through, and readable on computers or other electronic devices. Sometimes the equivalent of a conventional printed book, e-books can also be born digital...
publishers keep all their titles perpetually in print.
Seconds are imperfect or damaged copies which are set aside from a print run. These will usually have their dust jacket
Dust jacket
The dust jacket of a book is the detachable outer cover, usually made of paper and printed with text and illustrations. This outer cover has folded flaps that hold it to the front and back book covers...
clipped or marked in some way.
From time to time, readers may observe an error in the text and report these to the publisher. The publisher typically keeps these reprint corrections in a file pending demand for a new print run of the edition, and before the new run is printed, they will be entered. This is one of the factors that puts the "substantially" into the definition of "substantially the same setting of type".
Republication
Many commercially successful books have been republished, either by their original imprints or by other imprints. This explains why if you look up a popular book title at a large bookseller such as Amazon or a large library catalog such as WorldCat, you often find an array of different copyright years, publishers, editions, formats (hardcover, softcover, trade, mass market), and so forth. The exact distinctions between "re-printing" and "re-publishing" and on whether a re-publishing is or is not a "different edition" are not policed by any universal authority, so the meaning of the terms used in any instance can not be known at first glance.Effect of technological change on the concept of "different versions"
The traditional concepts of versions of texts (editions, print runs, etc.) were shaped by the technology of printing on paper. As technology changes, the definitions of edition, co-edition, and print run are challenged by new models. For example, in the era of digital typesetting, print-on-demand, internet publishing, and e-books, how does one draw a line between different versions of the content? It can change every day, with any one instance of display (one hardcopy, one screen refresh, etc.) being different from the next. Yet the abstract distinctions of "big change" versus "little change" will probably continue to exist, simply taking new forms.UK
Since 1956, typographical arrangements of published editions are protected by copyright law. Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 , also known as the CDPA, is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which received Royal Assent on 15 November 1988. It reformulates almost completely the statutory basis of copyright law in the United Kingdom, which had, until then, been...
defines a published edition to mean a published edition of the whole or any part of one or more literary, dramatic or musical works.
It thus protects the publisher's investment in typesetting, as well as the processes of design and selection that are reflected in the appearance of the text. It also covers modern editions of public domain works (such as the complete works of Shakespeare), and prohibits the reproduction of the layout (but not the work itself).
See also
- Editio princepsEditio princepsIn classical scholarship, editio princeps is a term of art. It means, roughly, the first printed edition of a work that previously had existed only in manuscripts, which could be circulated only after being copied by hand....
- essentially, the first printed edition of classical or medieval works - Printers keyPrinters keyThe printer’s key, also known as the number line, is a line of text printed on the copyright page of books, used to indicate the print run. Publishers started to use this convention around the middle of the 20th century....
- Publication rightPublication rightThe publication right is a copyright granted to the publisher who first publishes a previously unpublished work after that work's original copyright has expired...
- Remaindered bookRemaindered bookRemaindered books are books that are no longer selling well and whose remaining unsold copies are being liquidated by the publisher at greatly reduced prices...
Sources
- Bowers, Fredson. Principles of Bibliographical Description, Winchester and New Castle, Delaware: St Paul's Bibliographies and Oak Knoll Press, 2005 (reprint edition, first published in 1949).
External links
- Bookpoi.com official homepage — a comprehensive online guide to identify first edition, rare and collectible books.
- Edition state terminology
- First Edition Points Online Reference Guide is a free searchable database of points of issue for hundreds of modern first edition books. Includes images of cover, copyright page, dust jacket flaps, etc.
- How to Identify a First Edition
- Pulitzer Prize First Edition Guide is a free searchable database of first edition Pulitzer Prize for FictionPulitzer Prize for FictionThe Pulitzer Prize for Fiction has been awarded for distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life. It originated as the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel, which was awarded between 1918 and 1947.-1910s:...
books. Includes images and points of issue. - Terms from the Antiquarian Booksellers Association — see "Edition", "First Edition", "Impression", "Printing" etc.