Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1938. 1st Edition. 1st Edition. Signed by Author. First Edition of Buckminster Fuller's first book. Excellent Presentation Copy, inscribed by the author on the front pastedown. 'To .with confidence in his ability to demonstrate creative responsibility in his day for other men'. 8vo. 406 pp. A better than very good copy, (dedicatees discreet name lightly stamped on the eps.), in copper-coloured cloth, black titles to the spine and front board in a bright, fresh dustwrapper with light overall general use. All fold-out charts and appendices present. Fuller introduces his concept of the "phantom captain" and many ideas seminal to his remarkable lifelong experiment of 'thinking out loud'.
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number line:A series of numbers appearing on the copyright page of a book, where the lowest number generally indicates the printing of that particular copy (e.g., a "1" would mean a first printing, and a "29" would indicate a 29th printing).
The following example is of a book that is in its 4th printing from Citadel Press. Note that despite the apparent declaration of "First printing 1997" the number line indicates the actual printing.
Often, the number line does not appear in sequence, as shown below in this first printing from Macmillan. However, the lowest number still indicates the printing:
There may also be times when a number line also contains intended years of publication as well as printings. This number line, for example, describes a first printing, published in 1989 by Harper & Row:
Random House is a notable exception, where for a period of several decades a first printing was indicated with a number line that began with "2", often accompanied by the words "First Edition".
Still other times, publishers may choose to use a letter line rather than a number line, as here shown in a first printing from Harvill Press (the "A" being indicative, rather than a "1"):