# Is "A Face in the Crowd (screenplay/book)" by Budd Schulberg a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of A Face in the Crowd (screenplay/book) by Budd Schulberg (Random House, 1957) is identified by: Stated First Printing on the copyright page; the published screenplay subtitled A Play for the Screen, with an introduction by director Elia Kazan, 172 pages, dust jacket illustrated by Bill Hofmann. US Random House first; this is the published screen-play text, not a story collection.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Stated First Printing on the copyright page; the published screenplay subtitled A Play for the Screen, with an introduction by director Elia Kazan, 172 pages, dust jacket illustrated by Bill Hofmann
- Based on Schulberg's story 'Your Arkansas Traveler.'
- Publisher imprint reads Random House
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Budd Schulberg |
| Publisher | Random House |
| Year | 1957 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Stated First Printing on the copyright page; the published screenplay subtitled A Play for the Screen, with an introduction by director… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Stated First Printing on the copyright page; the published screenplay subtitled A Play for the Screen, with an introduction by director Elia Kazan, 172 pages, dust jacket illustrated by Bill Hofmann. Based on Schulberg's story 'Your Arkansas Traveler.'

## Is this the true first?
US Random House first; this is the published screen-play text, not a story collection.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Reprints drop the First Printing statement from the copyright page.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *A Face in the Crowd (screenplay/book)* by Budd Schulberg a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/a-face-in-the-crowd-screenplay-book
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.