First edition decoder

How to read a number line

Most books printed since the 1970s have a row of numbers on the copyright page, called a number line or printer's key. Each time the book is reprinted, the printer removes the lowest number, so the lowest number is the printing. The order doesn't matter:

• 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10: first printing
• 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1: first printing
• 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2: first printing
• 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4: third printing

Some publishers use letters instead (A B C D E, where A is the first printing), and some add a year line, such as 02 03 04 05 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1: the lowest year is the year of that printing.

Letters that aren't printings

Many lines begin or end with a group of letters, such as RRD, BVG, QF or LSC-C. These identify the printer or binder, not the printing, and you can ignore them. Older Scribner lines also contain codes like I/C between the numbers.

The exceptions that catch people out

• Random House first printings from about the 1970s to the early 2000s have a line that starts at 2, together with the words “First Edition”. The second printing drops the words but keeps the 2. More on Random House.
• Scribner marked first printings from 1930 to the early 1970s with a capital “A”. More on Scribner.
• Harper, Morrow, Norton and others sometimes left “First Edition” on later printings. When the statement and the line disagree, the line wins.
• British publishers traditionally print “First published in (year)” and list each reprint below it.

“First edition” is not always “first printing”

Strictly, an edition is every copy printed from the same setting of type, across all its printings. Collectors usually mean the first printing of the first edition. Read more in First edition vs first printing.

Book club editions

Book club copies often say “First Edition” too. Signs: no price on the jacket, “Book Club Edition” on the flap, a small shape pressed into the back board, or a code in the inner margin of the last pages. See how to spot a book club edition.

Limits of this tool

The decoder uses publishers' published statements about how they mark first printings, summarised in our own words. Publishers changed their methods over time, imprints within one group did things differently, and rules were sometimes broken. For valuable books, also check title-specific points of issue and a specialist bibliography; the standard references are Bill McBride's Pocket Guide to the Identification of First Editions and Zempel and Verkler's First Editions: A Guide to Identification.