verifying a first edition.

pipkin71

Hi all. I wonder if anyone can help.

I have a harry potter book which I think is a first edition to sell on Amazon. There are some other first editions of this book on there and some state that the number line goes 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and published in 1998. My book was also published in 1998 but the number line reads 10 only and isn't followed by 9, 8, 7 etc. Therefore am I right in thinking I have a first edition or is it a 10th reprint?

Hope I've made sense and TIA for your comments
regards
pipkin

ps there's loads of these books selling on amazon so it wont make me a fortune but I would like to list it correctly

aris

Sounds like a 10th reprint:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printers_key

pipkin71

Thanks for that. from what I've read, the books that go 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 are a 10th reprint but my book just gives the number 10 so I'm not sure as if it had just stated 1 instead of 1, 2, 3, etc it would be a first edition and since they've gone the other way, starting at 10, then 10 is the first edition and 10, 9, 8, 7 etc are following editions if that makes sense, or have I got it totally wrong?
regards
pipkin

Kilty_2

If it is a first edition then I wouldn't sell it on Amazon......

Hang onto it, will be worth a mint in years to come.

frivolous_fay

I've been told that lists of numbers such as '10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1' that go all the way to 1 indicate a 1st edition.

pipkin71

because it just has the number 10 and no numbers following it, I've been told that that's a first edition because it's the reprints that add the numbers to the list so I'm still none the wiser.
I've looked at the advice given in the amazon thread and it says first prints of first editions can either start with the number 1 and work up so the number 2 would be the second print etc, or the number 9 and work down so the number 8 would be the second print. Mine starts at number 10. On amazon there are other first editions that start with the number 10 but work down to 1.
The book is definitely a first edition first published 1998 with no further printings indicated with subsequent dates, but I want to verify whether its a first printing of the book or a tenth printing-

Anastasia

I use this site which may help.

http://www.millersmiles.co.uk/bookguide/firsteditionbooks/firsteditionbooks.htm

frivolous_fay

Which Harry Potter is it? Perhaps I can check against mine if it matches one of my two 1sts.

Contains_Mild_Peril

Kilty wrote:

If it is a first edition then I wouldn't sell it on Amazon......

Hang onto it, will be worth a mint in years to come.

especially if you could get the author to sign it at some point, e.g. if she does a book signing you can get to, buy the new one for her to sign and ask her if she'll sign the other one too.

Amazombie

pipkin71 wrote:

because it just has the number 10 and no numbers following it, I've been told that that's a first edition because it's the reprints that add the numbers to the list so I'm still none the wiser.
I've looked at the advice given in the amazon thread and it says first prints of first editions can either start with the number 1 and work up so the number 2 would be the second print etc, or the number 9 and work down so the number 8 would be the second print. Mine starts at number 10. On amazon there are other first editions that start with the number 10 but work down to 1.
The book is definitely a first edition first published 1998 with no further printings indicated with subsequent dates, but I want to verify whether its a first printing of the book or a tenth printing-

The book you have is the tenth printing of the First Edition and as such of no great value. In order to be a First Printing it has to have a one in the number line and even that isnt always foolproof. If you had a book with the number line sequence say 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 or 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 or 10 8 6 4 2 9 7 5 3 1 then it would most likely be a First Printing of the First Edition which is what collectors are looking for.

Only the First Editions of the first three Harry Potter books are desirable after that they printed millions of First Editions for the later books so they have no value.

Where other authors are concerned 90% of all First Editions have no value.

frivolous_fay

Some of the Harry Potter 1st editions have a token 'rarity' value in that they have errors in the text which were later corrected. Not sure if this affected ALL the true firsts.