Is My A Field Guide to the Birds a First Edition?

The points of issue

First issue: '1934' printed in the title-page imprint (not only on the verso); the index misprints 'bog-pumper' as 'bob-pumper'; the four color plates carry tissue guards with descriptive letterpress; the Whistling Swan and White (Common) Egret plumages are printed gray or 'dirty.'

How Houghton Mifflin marked a first edition

• Merger-lineage window (Hurd & Houghton 1864 → Houghton, Osgood & Co. 1878–1880 → Houghton, Mifflin & Co. from 1880): still no 'First Edition' wording; identify by title-page date matching the copyright date, by the earli…
• Late-19th to mid-20th century (c.1880s–1950s): the operative tell is the title page. Houghton Mifflin almost invariably printed the year of first publication, in Arabic numerals, on the title page of a first printing and…

Full Houghton Mifflin first-edition guide →

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Check for a number line or dated printing — the lowest number present is the printing; a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the tell.
3. Verify this is the US true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
4. Rule out a book-club edition — a blind-stamp on the rear board or a jacket with no printed price marks a book-club copy.
5. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

The dust jacket

For a collectible first edition the dust jacket matters as much as the book. Confirm the jacket is present and unclipped — the printed price should still be at the corner of the flap (a clipped corner or a price-less flap can indicate a book-club issue). First-state jackets can differ from later ones in the cover art, blurbs, or review quotations; where a specific first-state jacket point is known for this title it is noted above.

Binding & format

Where multiple bindings exist, the hardcover trade issue is usually (but not always) the precedence copy — confirm against the points above. Later printings often show cheaper cloth, thinner boards, or simplified spine stamping. A simultaneous signed or limited issue, when one exists, is a distinct state from the trade first.

Is this the true first?

True first US edition, first issue, published 27 April 1934; only about 2,000 copies, which sold out within roughly ten days. Later issues drop the title-page date (copyright year on the verso only), 'clean' the swan and egret plumage, and the final issue lacks the plate guard sheets.P-028155

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition; the points are issue-states within the same edition. Absence of the title-page '1934' and a corrected index ('bog-pumper') indicate a later issue.P-028156

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of A Field Guide to the Birds a first edition?

A first edition of A Field Guide to the Birds by Roger Tory Peterson (Houghton Mifflin) is identified by: First issue: '1934' printed in the title-page imprint (not only on the verso); the index misprints 'bog-pumper' as 'bob-pumper'; the four color plates carry tissue guards with descriptive letterpress; the Whistling Swan and White (Common) Egret plumages are printed gray or 'dirty.'.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A stated first edition, a number line ending in 1, or a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the key. True first US edition, first issue, published 27 April 1934; only about 2,000 copies, which sold out within roughly ten days.

Is the book-club edition the same as the first?

No book-club edition; the points are issue-states within the same edition. Absence of the title-page '1934' and a corrected index ('bog-pumper') indicate a later issue.

I have a first edition of A Field Guide to the Birds — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap — an unclipped, priced jacket matters. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and use the free First Edition Checker to decode the printing. To sell, the author’s collecting guide covers the market. And if you are clearing books in the Albuquerque area, the New Mexico Literacy Project offers free pickup, any condition, and makes sure collectible copies are identified rather than discarded.

Glossary

First edition

Every copy printed from the first setting of type. Collectors usually want the first edition, first printing (the true first).

First printing / impression

A single press run from that setting. The first printing is the earliest and most desirable; later printings are still the first edition but not the true first.

Number line (printer's key)

A row of numbers on the copyright page (e.g. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1). The lowest number present is the printing — a line including 1 marks a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2).

Points of issue

Specific physical details — a stated edition, a number line, a typo, a jacket state — that identify the true first printing.

Book-club edition (BCE)

A reprint made for a book club. Tells include a blind-stamped dot or square on the rear board and a dust jacket with no printed price. Not the true first.

First thus

The first appearance of a particular version (first paperback, first illustrated, first U.S. printing) — a first of that kind, not the first edition of the work.