Is My Copy of The Mysteries of Harris Burdick a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First printing carries the full number line 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 on the copyright page; later printings drop the low numbers (copies explicitly catalogued as 'First Edition
• Sixth Printing' circulate, so the number line must be read, not assumed)
• Slim quarto (approx. 28 cm), [32] pp., with 13 full-page illustrations
• Bound in salmon cloth — described by some dealers as orange, the same cloth under differing descriptive habits — with gilt lettering to the spine and front cover
• Black pictorial dust jacket
• Jacket should be a priced jacket with the price present at the front flap and the ISBN present on the back panel; a price-clipped flap removes a point of description

How Houghton Mifflin marked a first edition

• Number-line era (early 1970s to 2007, HMH thereafter): the 'First Printing' statement was replaced by a descending number line on the copyright page. A first printing is indicated when the line runs down to and ENDS IN 1…

Full Houghton Mifflin 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. Read the number line — the lowest number is the printing. A line including 1 is a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2). Paste it into the decoder.
4. Verify this is the US 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?

US Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1984 is the true first and is the edition collected. A UK edition was published by Andersen Press (ISBN 0862641012); it does not precede the US issue, and its exact date is not independently confirmed, so it should not be described as simultaneous without further evidence. Collect the Houghton Mifflin issue.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition documented in the sources consulted for this title. The dominant trap is not a club edition but later Houghton Mifflin printings retaining the 1984 date and the salmon cloth while differing only in the number line — read the line. Distinct from the 1996 'Portfolio Edition' (loose plates) and the 2011 'Chronicles of Harris Burdick', both of which are separate later publications and not states of the 1984 first.P-044260

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Mysteries of Harris Burdick a first edition?

A first edition of The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg (Houghton Mifflin) is identified by: First printing carries the full number line 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 on the copyright page; later printings drop the low numbers (copies explicitly catalogued as 'First Edition; Sixth Printing' circulate, so the number line must be read, not assumed).

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

Check the copyright page. A number line whose lowest number is 1 marks a first printing (Random House ends at 2). US Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1984 is the true first and is the edition collected.

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

No book-club edition documented in the sources consulted for this title. The dominant trap is not a club edition but later Houghton Mifflin printings retaining the 1984 date and the salmon cloth while differing only in the number line — read the line. Distinct from the 1996 'Portfolio Edition' (loose plates) and the 2011 'Chronicles of Harris Burdick', both of which are separate later publications and not states of the 1984 first.

I have a first edition of The Mysteries of Harris Burdick — 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.