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The first issue would be nice if avalible.

MegaMarvel,

I think "Ballad of the Sea Salt" might actually be the first issue. From what I understand on the Casterman (publisher) website there are black and white editions and color editions. The first issue in the B&W series is, in fact, "Ballad of the Sea Salt". What is really confusing is that the color editions show it as both 1 & 2!?! The casterman web page does a terrible job of organizing the different issues into a easily recognizable sequence.
[http://www.casterman.com/Bande-dessinee/Collections-series/corto-maltese]

On the other hand the "official" webpage offers a simple, sequential list:

[ https://cortomaltese.com/ebook-corto-maltes/]