What's a First Edition?

[Draga]

Hi friends!

First of all, I and I say sorry for my ignorance, but as far as I see you all so eager talking about first editions I would like to know what's a first edition, and if you buy them, are they more expensive? How you recognize them?

Thanks in advance to the ones that reply to my question.

[Cowboy]

It is the first printing of a book. Look in FAQ to see how to identify them. Collectors seem to prefer first editions in most cases.

[Draga]

It is the first printing of a book. Look in FAQ to see how to identify them. Collectors seem to prefer first editions in most cases.

Well, Cowboy, I think that I'm lucky today: the link is broken . Thanks anyway! I just wanted to know what is it. I don't mind if it's a Stephen King's book or whatever the author. Just a general question. And if you can recognize it by simply looking into a book.

[Ubasti]

First editions are the first printing of a book. There are first editions of hardback and paperback books. I believe that you can usually tell a first edition by the number sequence on the publisher's page. I think it's usually some sequence of 1-10 ... in any order. Sai King's books are generally the only ones that I try to have first editions of so I'm not sure if this numbering sequence holds true for all books. A lot of the time the publisher's page might say "first edition" on it.

[w666]

Google "Stephen King First Edition".....and in about three weeks when you're done checking out all the links then you'll have an idea about it.

This site has a good "how to"....check the FAQ. Caveat emptor

[Draga]

Thank you very much Ubasti, now I've a clearer picture about it.

One Love!

[w666]

The link is working fine

http://www.stephenking.com/other/ide...t_editions.pdf

[Bev Vincent]

To muddy the waters a bit, first edition and first printing should not be used interchangeably, though in the King collecting world, they often are.

Those of you familiar with textbooks will know that a new edition appears when the book has been revamped in some way. New chapters, updates to old material, sometimes even new co-authors, etc. There may have been many printings of each edition.

In the King world, the revised versions of The Stand and The Gunslinger are new editions. I suppose you could also say that versions with new cover art and layout are new editions, but in fact they contain exactly the same text, so that's arguable.

What collectors are interested in is the first printing of each edition. So, the first printing of the revised and expanded The Stand is sought in addition to the first printing of the original version (though the latter is clearly rarer and more collectible).

The early King books were not printed in great numbers at first, so first printings of those books are rare, and hence valuable. For the last 25 years, though, the first printings of each book have been half a million copies or more, so the scarcity factor doesn't play into it as much. A first printing of The Shining is clearly rarer than a first printing of The Talisman, of which there were something like 750,000 copies made.

[Mindyleigh]

hi, i have recently found a treasure trove of viking first editions./ my quwstion is that i have purchased needful things and it is still wrapped in a plastic callophane wrapper and it is pretty dry rotted. can anyone tell me if this is worth anything and do i have to remove the plastic to find out? or if i SHOULD remove it.

[Patricia A]

hi, i have recently found a treasure trove of viking first editions./ my quwstion is that i have purchased needful things and it is still wrapped in a plastic callophane wrapper and it is pretty dry rotted. can anyone tell me if this is worth anything and do i have to remove the plastic to find out? or if i SHOULD remove it.

One of the best sites that I know of to find out what a book is worth $ wise is http://www.abebooks.com/books/RareBo...FRlcagodv0nlLQ
Enter the ISBN #, and or title, author etc. of the book you have a question about and it will give you a shite pile of info on the book, including which edition it is.

But keep in mind that a book you love is worth more than all the tea in China.