Is My Copy of Bless Me, Ultima a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Copyright page carries a 'First Printing' statement dated June 1972 (Berkeley: Quinto Sol Publications)
• Issued SIMULTANEOUSLY in two states:
• pictorial card wrappers — the common state — collating xiv, 248, [2] pp.; and
• a small hardcover state in black cloth boards with the spine lettering described by dealers as silver or as gilt
• A dealer-reported point sits on the hardcover's dust jacket: Burnside Rare Books describes the first-issue jacket as printing the lower WRAPPERS (paperback) price on the rear panel by mistake, later covered by a sticker with the higher hardcover price, and calls the stickered jacket the second state
• No bibliography or auction record located so far confirms the point, so treat it as a dealer observation: a jacket whose rear-panel price shows no correction sticker, or only the shadow of a removed one, is the one described as first issue

How Quinto Sol Publications marked a first edition

• Imprint “Quinto Sol Publications, Inc.” with a Berkeley, California address
• No number lines and no explicit first-edition statements — identification is by physical points of issue

Full Quinto Sol Publications first-edition guide →

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. 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.
5. 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?

Quinto Sol, Berkeley, June 1972 is the true first; no edition precedes it. Cloth and wrappers were issued at the same time, so neither format 'precedes' the other — but the cloth (hardcover) state is markedly scarcer, and a hardcover in the jacket dealers describe as first issue (the wrappers price on the rear panel, with no correction sticker) is the copy collectors look for. Signed copies (Anaya) are sought. Later Warner Books and TQS Publications printings are 'first thus,' not firsts.P-045954

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition. The usual confusion is with later Warner Books and TQS Publications reprints — a different publisher, and no 'First Printing / June 1972' statement on the copyright page. On the 1972 hardcover itself, a jacket whose rear-panel price carries a correction sticker is a later jacket state (dealers call it the second state), not a reprint of the book: the book block is still the 1972 first printing.P-045955

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Bless Me, Ultima a first edition?

A first edition of Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo A. Anaya (Quinto Sol Publications) is identified by: Copyright page carries a 'First Printing' statement dated June 1972 (Berkeley: Quinto Sol Publications).

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. Quinto Sol, Berkeley, June 1972 is the true first; no edition precedes it.

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

No book-club edition. The usual confusion is with later Warner Books and TQS Publications reprints — a different publisher, and no 'First Printing / June 1972' statement on the copyright page. On the 1972 hardcover itself, a jacket whose rear-panel price carries a correction sticker is a later jacket state (dealers call it the second state), not a reprint of the book: the book block is still the 1972 first printing.

I have a first edition of Bless Me, Ultima — 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.