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In the Picador edition of Pynchon's V, there is a V of Vs on (pre) page 7, and each chapter title is structured as a V.
[... This use of the V (particularly the V of Vs) has always shaped my interpretation of the symbolism of V, and am now wondering if I should draw anything from these structural usages. ...]
The first edition of V does indeed contain the V of Vs.
Not quite a proof, but here is a Pinterest image of what is claimed to be the Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1963 edition. This image can now be found on Google images.
I have also obtained the following image from an academic paper, Poetics at the Interface : Patterns of Thought and Protocols of Reading in Studies of Thomas Pynchon’s V. by Samuli Björninen.
The real clincher is thanks to Gareth Rees who has found a J. Lippincott first edition, fourth impression (1963), on Archive.org, with the V of Vs. This image is identical to that of the previous.
