Owning a 1st edition book collection can be a rewarding and a financially clever pastime. First edition books are the first prints of a book from the printers. For a lot of books first editions are not hugely collectable, as the book does not achieve bestseller status, however for some books first editions make up a large proportion of high end book auction sales.
Historically first edition books are around 100 - 100,000 in number for each print run, and often a lot are available if you buy a book as soon as it is released - making it very easy to start collecting 1st edition books - you might even own a 1st edition book without knowing it!
You can tell which edition a book is by looking in the front cover, often it will say when the original first edition was printed and what the current print is at the time that specific book was printed. Occasionally first editions are seen as a limited edition of each book and come with special covers or limited edition packaging.
So you can either look out for newly released books in order to catch out a first edition of what might one day be a best seller, or you can check out current uk 1st edition book auctions on collectables now. Books have been printed for hundreds of years so you even occasionally see high value first edition copies of older books, some older first edition copies have been known to go for £1million plus figures in uk antiques auctions.
