First Editions: A Guide to Identification

Zempel, Edward N.

ISBN 10: 0930358082 / ISBN 13: 9780930358082

Published by Spoon River Pr, 1989

About this Item

Very Good in Very Good dust jacket. Purple cloth boards clean and sound with light shelfwear. Dust jacket unclipped with mild rubbing and edgewear, including a few small marks and slight bumping at extremities. Interior clean and unmarked with crisp pages and solid binding. An attractive and well-preserved reference copy.

A standard and highly useful bibliographic reference for collectors, dealers, librarians, and scholars of modern first editions. This expanded second edition compiles publisher statements and practices concerning the designation of first editions, first printings, and impressions across North American, British Commonwealth, and Irish publishers. Edited by Edward N. Zempel and Linda A. Verkler, the volume substantially enlarges earlier bibliographic guides and incorporates updated publisher information through the late 1980s.

An indispensable desk reference for antiquarian and modern first edition booksellers, especially valuable for verifying issue points and understanding publisher-specific designation methods. Frequently cited within the rare book trade, the work remains a practical tool for cataloging, authentication, and collection development. Particularly useful for dealers handling twentieth-century literature and modern collectible fiction.

Carefully packed and shipped in a box. Shipped via USPS with tracking provided. International shipping available. Additional photographs available upon request. Please review photographs carefully, as they form part of the description. Returns accepted within the AbeBooks 30-day return window.
SCI 1a.

Seller Inventory # ABE-1779915773958

Bibliographic Details

• Title: First Editions: A Guide to Identification
• Publisher: Spoon River Pr
• Publication Date: 1989
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0930358082
• ISBN 13: 9780930358082
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 2nd Edition
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good
• Weight: 0.992 pounds
• Seller catalogs:
  • Reference
  • Bibliography

About this title

Synopsis

Book by Zempel, Edward N.

Reviews

Book collectors seek first editions, but many publishers provide little assistance in this quest. Even when they do designate edition and/or printing, they do not all use the same system. Thus, Harper & Row deletes numbers in successive reprints; Harcourt Brace Jovanovich adds letters. Some publishers denote edition or printing on the copyright page with the last number on the right, others with the first number on the left; still others note only second and later editions. Hence, this book is indispensable to collectors and libraries serving them. Zempel and Verkler have collected statements from some 1700 20th-century publishers of English-language books--about 700 more than in their 1984 edition--indicating current practices and earlier methods as far back as 1928. The guide also helps track down acquisitions and publishers' name changes. A worthy additions to most collections.
- Joseph Rosenblum, Univ. of North Carolina, Greensboro
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.