What is the difference between an edition, printing, issue and state?
An edition refers to copies of a book printed from the same plates in a publisher’s print run. The first edition, first printing comes from the original, single set of plates and is, therefore, the first public appearance of the book to be sold. Each edition of a book can have multiple printings; each printing includes all of the copies of a book printed from the same plates at a given time. For example, an edition may include 5,000 copies of a book, 1,000 of which were printed initially, and 4,000 of which were printed six months later from the same plates. When corrections, additions, deletions or alterations occur in the printing process of a book after its initial publication, copies of these altered books will indiscriminately go on sale. An issue occurs when such alterations are intentionally made by the publisher for treatment as a separate, discrete unit. The result can be referred to as a separate issue of that edition. A state occurs when a portion of a particular printing, i
