Is there somewhere I could learn how to understand...?

Question:

Is there somewhere I could learn how to understand...?

in a books copyright page what all the things listed there mean. Like the Isbn #, is it a first editon or which edition it is, and so forth?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: ISBN is an international serial number assigned to books by the Bowker company. Publishers buy a set of unique ISBN numbers that they can then apply to books as they publish them. The function of the ISBN is to identify books which may have similar titles or authors. It's sort of like the book's social security number. Different formats of the same title (hardcover, mass paperback, trade paperback, audio book) will have different ISBNs. A revised edition of a book will get a new ISBN, too.

Nowadays, most first editions will say "first edition." If the book is reprinted using the same plates (no editorial changes have been made to the text), there are two ways to tell. The obvious and easy one is if it says, in some way, "Second Printing" somewhere on the copyrights page.

The less obvious indicator is at the bottom of the copyright page. See that row of digits? On a first printing of a first edition, those numbers will be:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0

If the book is printed on an offset press, the printer will intentionally damage the first number for the second printing so that the numbers will be:

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0

And for the third printing, the printer will knock off the 2 so that the first digit in the line is the 3.