The impression line is the great publishing mystery of our time.
0123456789 9876543210 1357908642 2468097531
The lowest number is the impression.
But watch out for...
39 40 41 42 43 44 45
As in huge sellers like the Harry Potter items. The above example indicates a 39th printing, not a first because there is a '1' in there somewhere.
Some US publishers use 234567890 or 098765432 and add 'FIRST EDITION' to indicate a first printing. The second printing would simply omit the 'FIRST EDITION' bit. The third printing would simply have 34567890.
Others use letters - abcdefgh.
But let's not confuse things too much. There aren't many that do things that way.
Usually, if a book has no impression line, 'First published in XXXX' with no other publication information indicates a first edition.
An example of where this doesn't work is in the Beatrix Potter books published by Warne. From 1903 to the current issues they tend to have 'First published in 1903' and no other info.
This does not necessarily mean you have a 20,000.00 copy of 'Peter Rabbit' as Warne used a date code, sometimes lower on the reverse of the title page, sometimes on the reverse of the last printed page. It is usually something like '989-264' - the '264' bit would indicate February 1964.
But not necessarily. That is why there is a book written specifically to aid in identification of them, and even that is a collectable.
You are on the learning curve. Just keep sucking up the info as you go along.
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Whomever you may murder, there's no police like Holmes.
Σ Ψ Δ
σ ψ δ
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Whomever you may murder, there's no police like Holmes.
Σ Ψ Δ
σ ψ δ
