[Nem]

I was filling out some wikipedia thingumy ( first wikiedit ^_^; ) and it came to mind I had no idea what edition the book I was referencing was. It doesn't really seem to say explicitly in the book either. I've taken a picy of the info page if it's any help to those what is in the know about such things:



You'd expect the list of numbers at the top to have something to do with it but 10th to 1st isn't very specific.
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Never forget,
We stroll along the roof of hell
Gazing at flowers.
- Issa

[thespaceinvader]

With fiction, I doubt it really matters. Editions are important when you're talking textbooks, particularly those which release a substantially different edition regularly, less so when you're talking fiction. Basically, if the edition isn't part of the title of the book/present on the cover, it probably isn't important in referencing it.
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Keeper of Tristram's rings, and Felucca's very expressive ears.

[Tinalles]

Ahhhh, a question I can answer.

The line of numbers you see there indicates the printing, not the edition. The lowest number indicates which batch the book was printed in. So, for example,

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 <-- First printing

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 <-- Third printing

Sometimes they do it the other way around, too:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 <-- First printing

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 <-- Second printing

EDIT: Oh, except Random House will omit the 1 on an initial printing. So for anything printed by Random house, the first printing will actually end the string of numbers with a 2. This applies, for example, to all the Harry Potter books.

A printing is not the same as an edition. It's not a different edition unless there are changes to the content of the book. That's indicated using "First Edition", "Second Edition" and so on.

If the copyright page doesn't explicitly state an edition, there's no way to know for certain what edition it is. Given that the book you've got there was first published in Britain in 2007 and is a first printing, chances are good that it's the first British edition. Furthermore, Amazon lists the first American edition as released on January 1, 2008, so it's a good chance that the book was published in Britain before other countries, making it an overall first edition.

Of course, that's speculation. It could theoretically have come out in Australia first or something. But I'm guessing it's just a plain old first edition, on the theory that most authors print first in their home market, then in the largest foreign market, and then in other foreign markets in order of size. Like Sabriel. It was first published in Australia, I bought my first copy in America about a year later, and then happened to be in Britain for the first British edition, which had much more abstract cover art. Good book, if you like dark fantasy.

So there you've got my thoughts on the matter. Be grateful I didn't quote the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules at you. I could. I've got them right here. As one of my t-shirts says, Don't make me use my librarian voice.
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Keeper of The Remnant Minuon (cognomen Lucy, the Eaten One) and the Emissary Caeli

[Asa]

Ooh, scary, Tin! Yeah, I was going to say, the copyright date (or dates) usually tells you about editions on the cover page, though if it's actually an edition, it usually says so on the cover. But with some books where they reprint it after a while, there's a list of copyright dates buried in a long paragraph. The first is the first time it was printed, and the last is the latest time was printed. A bit different from editions, but closely related.
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Self-styled Forum Grandmother, because I hand out nicknames and hugs whether you want them or not. ^_^

Keeper of the Library and the Gateway to Haven

Nem: "It's the sort of face you just know is getting ready to poke you with something sharp."
BS: "...then insist you eat a brownie."
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If we shadows have offended,
Think but this and all is mended...
Give me your hands if we be friends,
And Robin shall restore amends.

[Nem]

Hehe, learn something new every day. New knowledge is squishy and warm, like huggable hot chocolate.

Thanks guys, (and girl) ... ! ^_^
_________________
Never forget,
We stroll along the roof of hell
Gazing at flowers.
- Issa

[Asa]

[Tinalles]

Yeah, really. Who are you, and what have you done with Nem? ^_^
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Keeper of The Remnant Minuon (cognomen Lucy, the Eaten One) and the Emissary Caeli

[Tyris]

Well, it's not one of ours. Though that doesn't preclude the idea of someone else making copies of people...
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Dubbed "Tetris" by Asa... apparently.
Keeper of Nanashi's ghostly blue visage and Felucca's hypothetical ejecting nose-cone.

"It's a sad thing when a man loses his cookie." - Nem

[Tinu.]

Maybe it's a second or third addition Nem. =o
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Keeper of Gaia and all the books on Earthsong

"If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will spend its whole life believing it is stupid."
~Einstein