Printings within an Edition

Beinecke cataloging practice is to usually record any printing statement appearing in an item; this can be done in a general note for works that have separate bibliographic records for each printing within an edition, or in a local note for works that have either a separate bibliographic record for every year of printing within an edition or a single bibliographic record for all printings within an edition. Whichever option is chosen, the note should include printing number and date (e.g., “6th printing, Feb. 1954”) but not necessarily the printer’s name. It is only necessary to include information relating to the printing of the copy in hand, but sometimes it will be desirable to include information relating to the first printing as well if that information is useful and not recorded elsewhere in the record (e.g., “1st printing, March 1972 … 8th printing, July 1978”). If the item is a translation, it is not necessary to include information relating to the printing of the work in its original language. Indeed, be careful not to confuse the two.

Below are the guidelines for when to create separate records for different printings of the same edition. Occasionally a curator will request exceptions to these guidelines.