Patrick O'Brian First Edition

[Fastpants]

Hello Everyone.

 

I hope you are all well.

 

Please can you help me with a little problem I have. I have recently become addicted to Patrick O'Brian Aubrey and Maturin novels and I tend to purchase them as I go along. I am about half way though and I try to get them second hand whenever I can and I purchased Reverse of the Medal off amazon just the other day for 45 pence.

 

I got very excited when I opened the packaged as it had the original green hard back cover with the plastic dust sheet and on the publishers page at reads:-

 

'First Published 1986'

Then follows some text thich says this book was also punlished in 1986 (i'm sorry i do not have the book with me as I won't take it out of the house).

 

I was harping on about it to my wife telling how much these books fetch especially as this is the next in line to be made into a film when she brought me back down to earth asking me how I knew it was a first edition, as there is nothing to obviously indicate that it actually is.

 

Can someone please help me to identify if this a first edition, I have no intentions of selling it but it has recently become my most prized possession (after the wife of course)? I can also take a picture of the publishers cover or write it out when I get home this evening.

 

Thanks in advance.

FP

[Janet]

It's something to do with the numbering on the publishing page, I believe.

 

First editions say something like 1 3 5 6 9 8 6 4 2 on them (I've made that up as I'm not sure of the exact sequence). ETA: This appears to relate to 'print run' rather than 'print edition' - sorry!

From Wiki

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.

 

More info here. I haven't read through it as I haven't time, but maybe something there will help.

 

Welcome to the forum, btw.

Edited October 30, 2009 by Janet
Added a bit

[Fastpants]

Hello

 

Thanks for your reply, There are no sequences of numbers on the publishers page. I have read somewhere that this can also signify if its a first edition.

 

Can anyone clarify this?

 

Thanks

FP

[BookJumper]

My most recent "Do I own a valuable first edition?" moment was with Douglas Adams's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - it was first published in 1976 and my copy was also a 1976 obe, however it was not a first edition as on the publisher's page was written "first published 1976, 8th printing". What you need is "first published in year such and such, 1st printing".

 

Also, check that it doesn't say anything along the lines of, "first published for publisher x in year such and such", as that will mean it's been published by someone else before. If it has, the copyright page will usually tell you when and who by.

 

Hope that helps.

[Fastpants]

It actuallt says and I quote:-

 

First Published 1986

@ Patrick O'Brian 1986

 

Can anyone confirm this is a first edition?

 

Thanks

FP

[Vanwa]

I doubt it. Like BookJumper says, it might be the first year of print, but not necessarily the first impression.

 

For example, I've quickly grabbed a book from a nearby stack and....James Herbert, The Rats.

 

"First published in Great Britain by New English Library Ltd., 1974.

Copyright @ James Herbert 1974"

 

This might be a first edition. It may not be. How many editions of The Rats were printed in 1974? Did any other publishers print it in 1974 besides NEL?

 

If you can find irrefutable proof that only one edition of the book printed in 1986, that the publisher is the only publisher who published it in 1986, and that there were no prints prior to 1986 by any publisher, then it would be a first edition/first impression. But without this knowledge there can't be any guarantee.

[Fastpants]

Thanks Vanwa and everyone else for your help.

 

So is it safe to say its not likely and just forget about it?

 

Well regardless of whether its a first edition, I have still aquired a nice little rare book and i'm very happy with it.

 

Thanks again

FP

[Vanwa]

I wouldn't say that exactly, it still might be first. One thing you could try, if there is no one you know personally with any expertise on first editions, is take it to the local library or a local bookshop. Generally the people who choose to work in these places love books (at least one would hope) and you may just bump into a member of staff there who could actually tell you one way or the other. Must be worth a shot right?

[Fastpants]

Sweet, Thanks again everyone.

 

I know a few good second hand book shops, i'll pop it in next week and let you all know of the outcome.

 

Thanks again for everyones help.