First edition
The first of a printed work in the form of a book, also called by its Latin name, editio princeps, when applied to classics, is the first printed issue of all copies of a work from the same setting of type, more specifically, the first publication of a work for sale at retail booksellers or as a numbered limited edition produced by a private press. A first edition need not be the original one issued by the publisher but may also be an unauthorised, therefore illegal, issue. First editions are especially interesting because of the information they provide for textual criticism since, as a rule, they most closely correspond to the author's intention. This holds particularly for earlier works since scarcely any instructions to the printer survive. The term "first edition" is frequently confused with "first proof" in this sense or the two terms are regarded as synonymous. Unlike a first edition, a first proof is not intended for publication. It might even be a typewritten manuscript but the term usually applies to a preliminary galley corrected by the printer's reader or a trial impression of a work that is later to be printed and published in book form. Strictly speaking, the term is applied to the technical process of printing. Many literary and academic or scientific works have appeared as first impressions in journals and only later as first editions in a separate issue (in Germany, for instance, writings by Karl May, Albert Einstein et al).
