How do you know what date a book was released?

The publication date of a book is usually printed on the copyright page, located at front of the book along with other information about the publisher. Publication dates may also be available in an online library card catalog such as the one at the Library of Congress, available at Catalog.Loc.gov.

When looking for the publication date on the copyright page of a physical copy of the book, it can be easy to confuse the date of the release with the dates of subsequent editions. If multiple dates are listed on the copyright page, the one labeled First Printing is the date of the book's original release.