Is My A Gent from Bear Creek a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The 1937 Herbert Jenkins first collates 312 pages plus 8 pages of publisher's advertisements, in orange cloth; the dust jacket is exceptionally scarce, and jacketed copies are institutional rarities (the Bodleian holds one)
• HowardWorks reports only about twenty copies known in any state as of late 2025, and many survivors are ex-lending-library examples — Boots Book Lovers' Library copies are frequently encountered — usually lacking the jacket
• The book gathers reworked Breckinridge Elkins stories into thirteen continuous chapters, three of them newly written ('Striped Shirts and Busted Hearts', 'Meet Cap'n Kidd', 'When Bear Creek Came to Chawed Ear'), with 'Educate or Bust' a rewrite of 'Sharp's Gun Serenade'
• A later Jenkins impression is reported to be distinguishable only by a reduced-price sticker applied over the printed price on the lower jacket panel, so an unstickered priced jacket is the first-impression indicator; the sheets themselves are believed not to differ

How Herbert Jenkins Ltd marked a first edition

• The identification method depends on the era, because Jenkins changed practice around 1929-1930. This is the single most important point: do not apply one rule to all Jenkins books.
• For roughly 1930 onward (which covers most collected Wodehouse titles): a first edition/first printing IS positively stated on the copyright page (verso of the title leaf) as 'First printing' or 'First edition.' A true f…

Full Herbert Jenkins Ltd 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?

The Herbert Jenkins first edition, London, 1937, is the true first and the only edition of Howard's lifetime era — but the census note is wrong on one point: this was published POSTHUMOUSLY, Howard having died in June 1936, and it is generally cited as the first Howard book published. The census is also wrong on the US first: it is NOT Gnome Press but Donald M. Grant, Publisher, West Kingston, Rhode Island, 1965 — 732 copies, illustrated by Tim Kirk (colour jacket art and three black-and-white interiors), and copies are 'stated First American Edition'. Both the Jenkins and the Grant are collected; no original-language issue arises, as Howard wrote in English and the UK issue is the first appearance.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue is documented. The critical trap is a modern facsimile reproduction of the 1937 Jenkins: it is bound in BLUE cloth rather than orange, carries the Jenkins logo to the spine, and wears a facsimile of the original jacket art — cloth colour is therefore a first-line check. The Donald M. Grant 1965 was itself a facsimile-style reprinting of the Jenkins text, and every subsequent reprinting has been edited; the 1975 paperback is a revised edition, and later print-on-demand hardcovers are 'first thus' at best.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of A Gent from Bear Creek a first edition?

A first edition of A Gent from Bear Creek by Robert E. Howard (Herbert Jenkins Ltd) is identified by: The 1937 Herbert Jenkins first collates 312 pages plus 8 pages of publisher's advertisements, in orange cloth; the dust jacket is exceptionally scarce, and jacketed copies are institutional rarities (the Bodleian holds one).

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. The Herbert Jenkins first edition, London, 1937, is the true first and the only edition of Howard's lifetime era — but the census note is wrong on one point: this was published POSTHUMOUSLY, Howard having died in June 1936, and it is generally cited as the first Howard book published.

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

No book-club issue is documented. The critical trap is a modern facsimile reproduction of the 1937 Jenkins: it is bound in BLUE cloth rather than orange, carries the Jenkins logo to the spine, and wears a facsimile of the original jacket art — cloth colour is therefore a first-line check. The Donald M. Grant 1965 was itself a facsimile-style reprinting of the Jenkins text, and every subsequent reprinting has been edited; the 1975 paperback is a revised edition, and later print-on-demand hardcove

I have a first edition of A Gent from Bear Creek — 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.