How to read a printers key

For the mathematical concept, see Number line.

A copyright page with the printer's key underlined. This version of the book is the eighteenth printing.

The printer's key, also known as the number line, is a line of text printed on the copyright page (often the verso of the title page, especially in English-language publishing) of books, used to indicate the print run. Publishers began this convention about the middle of the 20th century; its use became common after 1970.[1][2]

An example follows:

This is how the printer's key will appear in the first print run of a book. Numbers are removed with subsequent printings, so if "1" is seen then the book is the first printing of that edition. If it is the second printing then the "1" is removed, meaning that the lowest number seen will be "2".[3]

Examples[edit]

Usually, the printer's key is a series of numbers or letters. However its structure or presentation is not uniform, as shown in the following examples:[4]

In some cases, rather than follow in series, the numbers may alternate from left to right. For example:

In other cases, number lines may include a date line:

This indicates a second printing (or second impression) and that it occurred in 1970. More specifically, it is this particular imprint's second impression of the edition.

When the publisher outsources the printing to a contractor, a code identifying the contracting printer may occasionally be shown:

The hypothetical printer's key above means

• third printing
• printed in 1996
• contracted to Acme Printing Corporation.

First edition vs. first printing[edit]

Bibliographers usually define a first edition as all printings from substantially the same type setting, no matter how many printings are done. Book collectors tend to define first edition as the first printing of the first edition.[5][6]

Why numbers are removed rather than added[edit]

With each successive reprint, the publisher needs to instruct the printer to change the impression number. In practice, if the plates (in offset printing) have been kept, a number can be erased, but nothing can be added. In this arrangement, all the printer must do is "rub off" the last number in sequence. Changing only the outer number requires the fewest possible changes to the page of characters, which means the smallest possible charge to the publisher.[1] In the days of letterpress printing, where each character was a metal block, all the printer had to do was to pick out the relevant blocks from the "sheet"; then the stack of blocks, which had been laboriously laid out when the page was first set up, could be inked for the reprint.[7] In the case of a Linotype slug, the lowest number could be filed off and the slug reused.[9] For offset printing with metal plates, the number can be erased without damaging the rest of the plate. In each case, the change is minimal.[10]

Notes[edit]

1. ^ a b Boutell 1949, p. 26, § "Thomas Y. Crowell Company" ¶ "1947 Statement".
2. ^ Ahearn & Ahearn 2011, § "First Edition Identification". Retrieved 2022-08-24 – via Google Books (limited preview).
3. ^ Stop Counterfeit Books 2022.
4. ^ Rennicks 2021, § "How Can You Tell if a Book is a First Edition?"; Ahearn & Ahearn 2011, "First Edition Identification By Publisher". Retrieved 2022-08-24 – via Google Books (limited preview).
5. ^ Boutell 1949, p. [ix], § "Explanatory note to the Original Edition".
6. ^ Carter 1995, pp. 84–85, § "Edition and Impression".
7. ^ Levy & Mole 2017, pp. 17–22, § "Making Printed Books".
8. ^ TIP 1899, p. 745; Linotype Bulletin 1918.
9. ^ In theory; linotype operators sometimes used files (and other tools) in order to make fine adjustments.[8]
10. ^ Duncan & Smyth 2019, p. 64.

References[edit]

• Ahearn, Allen & Ahearn, Patricia (2011) [originally published 1991. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons]. Collected books: the guide to identification and values (ebook) (4th ed.). Comus, Maryland: Quill & Brush Press. ISBN 978-1-8830-6014-5. Retrieved 2022-08-10 – via Google Books.
• Boutell, Henry S. (1949) [originally published 1928. London: Elkin Mathews]. Boutell, Roger (ed.). First editions of today and how to tell them (3rd revised & enlarged ed.). Berkeley & Los Angeles: University of California Press. LCCN 50000048. OCLC 1196280655 – via Internet Archive.
• Carter, John (1995) [originally published 1952. London: Rupert Hart-Davis]. ABC for book collectors. Corrections, additions and Introduction by Barker, Nicolas (7th corrected ed.). Newcastle, Delaware: Oak Knoll Press. ISBN 9781884718052 – via Internet Archive.
• Duncan, Dennis & Smyth, Adam, eds. (2019). Book parts (1st ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780192579416. Retrieved 2022-08-10 – via Google Books.
• "Identifying a book's print run". Stop Counterfeit Books. Cengage et al. [book-publisher consortium]. 2022. Archived from the original on 2022-08-03. Retrieved 2022-08-06 – via Wayback Machine.
• Levy, Michelle & Mole, Tom (2017). The Broadview introduction to book history (paperback) (1st ed.). Peterborough, Ontario: Broadview Press. ISBN 9781554810871. Retrieved 2022-08-11 – via Google Books.
• "Machine Composition Notes and Queries". The Inland Printer. Vol. 22, no. 6. Chicago. March 1899. pp. 744–746. OCLC 714712112. Retrieved 2022-08-14 – via Google Books. p. 744: [Section subtitle:] Conducted by an expert.
• Rennicks, Rich (17 December 2021). "Identifying first editions". The New Antiquarian [blog]. Antiquarian & Rare Books. New York: ABAA. Archived from the original on 2022-01-03. Retrieved 2022-08-11 – via Wayback Machine.
• [Various contributors] (March 1918). "Hints for Operators and Machinists". The Linotype Bulletin. Vol. 14, no. 7. New York: Mergenthaler Linotype Company. p. 110. OCLC 608103572. Retrieved 2022-08-14 – via Google Books.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)

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