Edition (book)
The bibliographical definition of an edition is all copies of a book printed from substantially the same setting of type, including all minor typographical variants.
Since World War II, books often include a number line (printer's key) that indicates the print run.
The classic explanation of edition was given by Fredson Bowers in Principles of Bibliographical Description (1949).
A common complaint of book collectors is that the bibliographer's definition is used in a book-collecting context.
For example, J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye as of 2016[update] remains in print in hardcover.
First edition most often refers to the first commercial publication of a work between its own covers, even if it was first printed in a periodical: the complete text of Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea appeared in the September 1, 1952, issue of Life, yet the generally accepted "first" edition is the hardcover book Scribner’s published on September 8, 1952.
The basic definition of a co-edition is when two publishing houses publish the same edition of a book (or equivalent versions of an edition, for example, translated versions), simultaneously or near-simultaneously, usually in different countries.
Also, large multinational publishers now have existing distribution systems for their hardcopy books in many countries, so they don't need to partner with other companies.
However, the binding and hinges are made extra strong to allow for the greater wear and tear in library books.
This is analogous to the "police and taxi" packages for automobiles, in which heavier brakes and other upgrades are made to withstand harsher-than-standard use and longer duty cycles.
Book club editions are sold to members at a good discount compared with the original issue price.
Naturally, for a cheap edition the author will receive a lower royalty but that may be compensated for by a greater volume of sales.
Macmillan (London) published the largest number of colonial edition titles.
A critical edition is a scholarly publication, containing commentary, critique, and sometimes a full developmental history of the work from all available sources.
Because of the variation in quality, lower-numbered prints in an edition are sometimes favored as superior, especially with older works where the image was struck until the plate wore out.
Tight controls on the process to limit or eliminate variation in quality have become the norm.
The lower the second number is, the more valuable and collectible the limited editions are likely to be, within whatever their price range is.
The printer is also often allowed to retain some proof impressions; these are marked "P. P." Finally, a master image may be printed against which the members of the edition are compared for quality: these are marked as "bon à tirer" or "BAT" ("good to print" in French).
For this reason if a popular book is searched for in a large bookseller such as Amazon.com or a large library catalog such as WorldCat, often an array of different copyright years, publishers, editions, formats (hardcover, softcover, trade, and mass market), and so forth are observed.
[a] It thus protects the publisher's investment in typesetting, as well as the processes of design and selection that are reflected in the appearance of the text.
