We recently became enamored of Lemony Snicket’s Series of Unfortunate Events. We’re slow, okay? Anyway, in the process, I’ve been educated (somewhat) about the number line found in many books these days.
Specifically, that the series 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 appears to indicate a first printing – at least in this series, as printed in the US. In another series from the same publisher, a book from another publisher, or even the same series from the same publisher in the UK, it might be something like 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 instead. The common thread being that each contains the number 1. the publisher then removes the number 1 when the first printing is complete, so the second printing results in a slightly different number line. For instance, 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2.
Apparently at least one publisher (Random House, I believe) doesn’t adhere to this theory – the lowest number ever found on their number line, even for a first printing, is 2. And some other publishers use letters instead, where A equals 1, B equals 2 and so on. Still, this is all relatively simple, and makes it somewhat easy for even a neophyte like myself to make a reasonable guess as to the printing of the book.
Naturally, I started looking at other books as we purchase them to see if they are first printings or not. Generally, the guidelines above can help. Then we ran across something completely different. Try this one on for size:
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 4 5 6 7 8 9/0
Or perhaps even:
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 5 6 7 8 9/0
What gives? With the first example, I’d be likely to label it a first edition, as it contains the all-important 1. Perhaps the second would be the fourth printing, since the lowest number found is 4. And if it just stopped at that number, I’d be fine with it. What I don’t get is why the numbers go back up in seemingly non-consistent fashion, and what in the world the slash-zero does. Anyone know the mystery?
Oh, and if anyone happens to have or know about a first printing of The Bad Beginning, The Reptile Room or The Wide Window in good condition, please let me know. We’ve managed to get first printings of all the other books, but those are, as you may imagine, somewhat elusive. I have been scouring eBay for months.