Please tell me the difference between the ( First Edition ) and ( First Published )

Please tell me the difference between the ( First Edition ) and ( First Published )

 

Usually when referring to books, and to publisher's notes in books, First Edition is only applicable to the first appearance of the book in print, but First Published may appear in many forms in later editions. For example, a Book Club edition may simply say First Published 1932 even if it came out in the 1960s, as may an edition in a different format, such as a 'Collected Works'.

In general the value attaches to first editions because they tend to be a relatively small number of books, usually of works that later went on to sell millions.
As important for value is that it be the first printing of the edition or even the first state of an edition, some first editions had minor corrections during the production run, common in Charles Dickens work for example.

 

I used to read a ton of science fiction. Many older works were "first published" in serial form in magazines, and only collected and published in book form years or even decades later. Dickens did the same thing, along with many other 19th century writers. Poe comes to mind too. Some of the original published versions can be worth a bit.

 

This is a pretty good explanation:
https://www.abebooks.com/books/rare...books_collect/collecting-first-editions.shtml

 

I have a copy of "The Spy Who Came in From the Cold", fourth impression, pre-publication.

Things can get complicated.

 

Review copy? True... "The majority of booksellers and collectors want the ‘true first edition’ – the edition of the book that supersedes all other editions chronologically – and sometimes detective work is required to identify the true first."

 

So far as I know, yes, it is a review copy, but how many review copies go into multiple printings? I'd think a publisher would have a fairly good idea of how many review copies he wants to distribute.

 

I worked in book publishing for 10 years and you are correct, generally you have a review mailing list for each title and create enough paper-bound copies and send them out. Before digital printing, review copies were VERY expensive to make because of the short print runs. But a publisher might spend the money if the book was generating tons of interest from reviewers and medial outlets. If the book looked like it might make the NYT or Publishers’ Weekly, then it was all in!