How can you tell if a book is a first edition? Where should I look to see?

Look on the page of information, usually the second or third page, if the copyright date and first published date are within a year of each other it should be a first edition.

If there are no dates check if the book has numbers printed in it, your looking for the numbers 10 to 1 in a row ex:

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

If you see this it's a first edition, if the 1 is missing it's a second edition, if the 1 and 2 are missing it's a 3rd edition and so on.

If you don't see either of these things or if there are no dates of copyright, publication or the number pattern above, it is very likely a first edition but it would be harder to tell, take it to a book shop.

Sometimes, if you are fortunate, the printer would have specified and taken that guess work out.

I have, in front of me, a first edition of, "The Deep Seas Toll" by James B. Connolly. On the page of the copyright, it states, "first edition".

I also have a number of books where it is printed on the first or second pages as being "First Edition."