# Is "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith (Harper & Brothers, 1943) is identified by: The first printing has "FIRST EDITION" stated on the copyright page, positioned below the publisher's code "8-43" and above the code "D-S"; both codes must be present, and later Harper printings carry different code pairs. The US Harper & Brothers 1943 edition is the true first and the edition collected; this is confirmed across a bibliography-citing ABAA dealer (Bauman), a copy-in-hand ABAA description (Lorne Bair), and fedpo.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The first printing has "FIRST EDITION" stated on the copyright page, positioned below the publisher's code "8-43" and above the code "D-S"; both codes must be present, and later Harper printings carry different code pairs
- Bound in green cloth with a printed paper title label affixed to the spine; octavo (21cm), collating [iv],[2],3-443,[1] pages
- The first-state pictorial jacket is a priced jacket, with the price present at the upper corner of the front flap and the figure "5338" printed at the foot of that flap
- The 1943 date alone does not establish a first printing: the book went back to press before its official August 1943 publication date, so the copyright-page codes are the decisive check
- Referenced as Bruccoli & Clark III:296 and NYPL Books of the Century 207
- Publisher imprint reads Harper & Brothers
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Betty Smith |
| Publisher | Harper & Brothers |
| Year | 1943 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The first printing has "FIRST EDITION" stated on the copyright page, positioned below the publisher's code "8-43" and above the code "D-S"… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
The first printing has "FIRST EDITION" stated on the copyright page, positioned below the publisher's code "8-43" and above the code "D-S"; both codes must be present, and later Harper printings carry different code pairs. Bound in green cloth with a printed paper title label affixed to the spine; octavo (21cm), collating [iv],[2],3-443,[1] pages. The first-state pictorial jacket is a priced jacket, with the price present at the upper corner of the front flap and the figure "5338" printed at the foot of that flap. The 1943 date alone does not establish a first printing: the book went back to press before its official August 1943 publication date, so the copyright-page codes are the decisive check. Referenced as Bruccoli & Clark III:296 and NYPL Books of the Century 207.

## Is this the true first?
The US Harper & Brothers 1943 edition is the true first and the edition collected; this is confirmed across a bibliography-citing ABAA dealer (Bauman), a copy-in-hand ABAA description (Lorne Bair), and fedpo. Smith wrote in English and was published in the US first, so no original-language precedence question arises. CORRECTION TO CENSUS: the claimed Heinemann (London) 1944 first UK edition could NOT be corroborated — no dealer catalogue, bibliography, or auction record consulted described it, and a targeted search returned only a 1944 Canadian issue from The Musson Book Company (Toronto). Treat the Heinemann attribution as unverified pending a British Library or Heinemann-bibliography check, and do not publish it as fact.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The Blakiston Company (Philadelphia) issued the reprint/book-club edition "by special arrangement with Harper & Brothers" — the Blakiston imprint on the title page is an immediate disqualifier. Blakiston copies are bound in textured green covers with gilt spine lettering, rather than the Harper first's green cloth with a printed paper spine label, and the jacket states "Book Club Edition" at the foot of the front flap. Bauman catalogues a first-edition copy housed alongside a separate book-club jacket, confirming the two jackets are distinct objects.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *A Tree Grows in Brooklyn* by Betty Smith a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/a-tree-grows-in-brooklyn
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.