First printing?

Question: First printing!?

I got a book from my grandmother a while ago, it's the Shirley Temple edition of Heidi!. She told me it was the first printing, but I'm not sure what this means!. I looked inside the cover and saw in italics "first printing", so it looks like she's telling the truth!.!.
But what exactly does that mean!?Www@QuestionHome@Com

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

Yup!. Books are actually reprinted a number of times!. Sometimes the rights to the book will be sold to a different publisher, or the cover will be updated, or they will want to make more money by re-releasing it, so they'll reprint the book!.
These are called "first editions!." They can be extremely valuable; some sell for thousands of dollars--these are usually books that are by extremely famous authors, are very old and are still in very good condition, and are in hardcover!.
It's still cool, though, to have a first edition, especially since there are usually very few (usually a publishing house will release a smaller amount of the first edition of the book, then if it's well received, release a larger amount, which is how they make a lot of their money)Www@QuestionHome@Com

Over the years, people reprint books that might not be available any longer!. They call the first session of this the first print!.Www@QuestionHome@Com