Is My Copy of A Handful of Darkness a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First edition: Rich & Cowan, London, published August 1955, 216 pages
• The copyright page reads "First Published – 1955"; there is no date on the title page
• FIRST BINDING: blue boards lettered in silver with a rocket/spaceship device on the spine panel — catalogued by L. W. Currey as "first binding of blue boards with spine panel stamped in silver"
• A later binding state is orange boards (also recorded in blue) lettered in black with a griffin device on the panel
• JACKET STATES: the first-issue jacket does NOT list World of Chance on the rear panel; the later jacket lists World of Chance and is found on both binding states, so binding and jacket must be assessed separately — an orange-boards copy in a World-of-Chance jacket is a later state of the first edition, not a first issue
• Jacket art by Peter Rudland

How to confirm the first-printing statement

Publishers stated first printings differently by era. The decisive tells are a printed “First Edition/First Printing” statement, a number line whose lowest number is 1 (Random House ends at 2), or a dated first printing with no later printings listed. Paste your copyright page into the number-line decoder.

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Confirm the first-edition statement — look for “First Edition,” “First Printing,” or the publisher’s equivalent wording.
3. Check for a number line or dated printing — the lowest number present is the printing; a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the tell.
4. Verify this is the UK true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
5. Rule out a book-club edition — a blind-stamp on the rear board or a jacket with no printed price marks a book-club copy.
6. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

The dust jacket

For a collectible first edition the dust jacket matters as much as the book. Confirm the jacket is present and unclipped — the printed price should still be at the corner of the flap (a clipped corner or a price-less flap can indicate a book-club issue). First-state jackets can differ from later ones in the cover art, blurbs, or review quotations; where a specific first-state jacket point is known for this title it is noted above.

Binding & format

Where multiple bindings exist, the hardcover trade issue is usually (but not always) the precedence copy — confirm against the points above. Later printings often show cheaper cloth, thinner boards, or simplified spine stamping. A simultaneous signed or limited issue, when one exists, is a distinct state from the trade first.

Is this the true first?

UK original; Rich & Cowan (London) 1955 is the true first of this collection — there is no competing period US edition, and America did not see one until Gregg Press in 1978. The Ace collection The Variable Man (1957) is a different book with different contents. This is not "PKD's first book anywhere": Solar Lottery (Ace Books D-103, a paperback original, May 1955) preceded it by roughly three months and is Dick's first book. A Handful of Darkness is correctly described as Dick's SECOND book, his first short-story collection, and his first hardcover — the formulation used by the standard PKD bibliographic sources. Note a related snare: the Rich & Cowan hardcover of the novel — World of Chance, the retitled and revised UK Solar Lottery — is 1956, so it postdates this collection despite Solar Lottery preceding it in the US; some sources garble this into a claim that Rich & Cowan published Dick before A Handful of Darkness, which they did not.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition is documented for the Rich & Cowan first. The tells that matter are internal to the edition: the 1957 Rich & Cowan second printing; the later orange-boards/black-lettering/griffin binding in place of the first blue-boards/silver/rocket binding; and the later jacket listing World of Chance on the rear panel. The Gregg Press (US) 1978 hardcover is a later reprint and the first American appearance, not a first edition.P-038657

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of A Handful of Darkness a first edition?

A first edition of A Handful of Darkness by Philip K. Dick (Rich & Cowan) is identified by: First edition: Rich & Cowan, London, published August 1955, 216 pages.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A stated first edition, a number line ending in 1, or a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the key. UK original; Rich & Cowan (London) 1955 is the true first of this collection — there is no competing period US edition, and America did not see one until Gregg Press in 1978.

Is the book-club edition the same as the first?

No book-club edition is documented for the Rich & Cowan first. The tells that matter are internal to the edition: the 1957 Rich & Cowan second printing; the later orange-boards/black-lettering/griffin binding in place of the first blue-boards/silver/rocket binding; and the later jacket listing World of Chance on the rear panel. The Gregg Press (US) 1978 hardcover is a later reprint and the first American appearance, not a first edition.

I have a first edition of A Handful of Darkness — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and decode the printing with the free First Edition Checker. Clearing out books? I take them as a free donation and make sure collectible copies are identified, not discarded: free pickup in the Albuquerque metro (scheduled by route), the 24/7 drop box at 5445 Edith Blvd NE, or donor-paid mail-in from anywhere in the US. Questions? Call or text 505-250-3804.

Glossary

First edition

Every copy printed from the first setting of type. Collectors usually want the first edition, first printing (the true first).

First printing / impression

A single press run from that setting. The first printing is the earliest and most desirable; later printings are still the first edition but not the true first.

Number line (printer's key)

A row of numbers on the copyright page (e.g. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1). The lowest number present is the printing — a line including 1 marks a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2).

Points of issue

Specific physical details — a stated edition, a number line, a typo, a jacket state — that identify the true first printing.

Book-club edition (BCE)

A reprint made for a book club. Tells include a blind-stamped dot or square on the rear board and a dust jacket with no printed price. Not the true first.

First thus

The first appearance of a particular version (first paperback, first illustrated, first U.S. printing) — a first of that kind, not the first edition of the work.