First Edition Question

the first printings of first editions are suually way more expensive. Especially those earlier books that might not have had a big initial print run. You should be able to find a good first edition second printing for significantly less. Try abebooks.com. they usually have some good deals.

yeah..

nate hit it pretty straight on the head:

after fight club turned into a movie with badass names attached, his first two unpublished novels were acquired and sold.  this was before the big demand for them, kind of a preperation for sales..

[i]invisible monsters[/i] never even made it to hard back

survivor was the first i read through.  it was hard back and fucking amazing.  [i]im[/i] was also fucking amazing.  very different.  since then, many printings have come into circulation, and collectors seek out first edition copies

if you arent a hardcore collector..

you can still find a brand new edition hard cover on amazon, first edition but a later printing, for pretty cheap ($16.29 us dollars)

but there have been like twenty printings of the hard cover and close to forty printings for the soft cover editions.  but here's the beauty:

the new edition ordered-able from amazon IS a first edition.  it's just a later printing.  they have not changed the edition, yet.  they will, in time.  but for now, that is the original edition, the original type-setting and everything.  there have just been many printings as the man has gotten huge since the first printing hit the shelves back in '99

so, a first edition, new, is $16 and change.  the first printing is what people are paying big bucks for.  i gave mine away long ago, but then again i'm not a collector:  i wanted to read the book, not the printing.

hope this helps

kabol

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I used to kinda care what printing I got, but then I thought about it...the entire book, every page and letter is the exact same between a first and second printing, only there's a '1' missing in the number line. Someone could make good money just typesetting a '1' back on the number line and selling as 1st/1st.

I believe Fight Club is now second edition hardcover, or at least they changed the book color for later printings without changing the edition. And the dust jacket is cut differently on later printings. I know there were people selling Fight Club at high prices on eBay to those who didn't understand the difference between edition and printing and were saying 'first edition! extremely rare!'

Here's a visual which may help. Both covers are the hardback orange cover shown on the image.

Also, as a bonus for me, based on the above conversation I may have a first edition, first printing of Survivor. Neat!

Hi.

Thanks for taking the time to go into such detail.  You do indeed have a 1st/1st.  I had purchased one of the later editions previously and it does not say "First Edition" (as you point out).  For some reason I feel the need to have hardcovers that say "First Edition," but due to budgetary concerns, I have learned  to live with them being later printings.  Otherwise, I would have had to pay about 4x what I did for my "First Edition" of "Fight Club."  Luckily for me, I found a 1st/1st of "Survivor" thru Barnes & Nobles' used books sellers for only $50.  That seemed like a steal compared to the ones selling on Ebay for $100+

Thanks again!

It's great what can be found through used booksellers on B&N and Amazon (and not to forget the great, great abebooks site). I think I found mine at a local used bookshop, got it for around $8. If these things are selling on eBay for $100+, that counts as one of my best buys ever. Double neat!

I have a first edition of Fight Club with Chuck's signiture in it WOOHOO!  But the numbers at the bottom start at 5.  Does this mean it's the 5th printing?

I have first edition Haunted that starts with 1.  I guess that means 1st/1st.  YAY

Also, what about the hardcover you can buy at St. Helena's?  Basically, if it's hard cover it's first edition right?  At least with Survivor anyway.  Am I right or wrong?

Thanks.

Definitely not always the case. The hardcover I have pictured above (the not first edition one) is the version from St. Helen's. Publishers will sometimes reissue hardcovers for various reasons. A Fight Club hardcover, for instance, was reissued just a few years ago, but it is definitely not a first edition. On the other hand, Invisible Monsters was never a hardcover, so the first edition is a paperback.

Think of it like Volume and Issue numbers with magazines where Volume is the Edition and Issue is the Printing. The serial goes Volume 1, Issue 1; Volume 1, Issue 2; Volume 2, Issue 1 and so on.

Okay, that was kinda confusing. Don't think about it that way.

okay.  ordered a fight club hard cover from amazon

and one from barnes and noble [dot] com

both are 7th printing and both are stated "first" editions

i never have seen one that was not a "first" edition, not until kaleb's helpful picture.  so probably the st helens bookstore is all 2nd edition, but right now amazon and the barnes store are first edition, though in the seventh printing.

added note:

also ordered a hard cover of clevenger's [i]contortionists' handbook[/i] and it's a 2nd printing now.  still first edition, but second printing.

kabol

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Just for clarification, the picture above is Survivor, not Fight Club.

It's interesting that all Fight Clubs seem to be first editions, though. I always assumed that when new versions are created (paperback, movie tie-ins, trade paperbacks, etc) then the edition changes. Sounds like that's not the case.

i'm sorry.  i shoulda clarified.  seems this topic split somewhere toward the middle.  i didnt know that survivor had more than one edition, though i speculate a later print run of course.  i did mean to order a copy of survivor, but had to get TCH for a friend for his upcoming birthday and i lost a week of work.  will order one through the local barnes store in another week or so, see what comes of it.

-kabol

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ok, just being annoying now.  but...  What about Rant.  Are those all still first edition?

far as i know, there was a hellava print run on rant.  so, i think theyre all first print to date..

but i cant tell absolutely.  havent been checking at the local barnes store.  next time i'm in, i'll check the printing page.

Rant's not even been released in paperback yet so I'd guess it's safe to say it's still on it's first printing. although i don't know really what one would have to do with the other. anyways...