Is My Adventures in the Apache Country a First Edition?

The points of issue

• New York: Harper & Brothers, 1869 (copyright entered in 1868), collating 535, [4] pages, illustrated throughout with 155 wood-engraved illustrations drawn by Browne himself
• First-edition copies are bound in publisher's cloth stamped with Harper & Brothers' embossed initials on the front and back covers and gilt titling on the spine, with dark brown endpapers
• Browne, who served the Interior Department as a special agent reporting on Indian affairs and on western mineral resources, wrote this account of his mid-1860s travels through Apache-raided Arizona and Sonora in the satirical, self-illustrated style of his earlier travel books, and it remains a primary source on Arizona Territory during the Apache wars

How Harper & Brothers marked a first edition

• 1912-1949: month/year letter code on copyright page. Month: A=Jan, B=Feb, C=Mar, D=Apr, E=May, F=Jun, G=Jul, H=Aug, I=Sep, K=Oct, L=Nov, M=Dec (J skipped).
• Year code (J skipped): M=1912, N=1913 ... Z=1925, then A=1926, B=1927 ... Z=1950 (cycles).

Full Harper & Brothers 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 British 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 Harper & Brothers New York printing, copyrighted 1868 and dated 1869 on its title page, is the first edition; Sampson Low, Son & Marston issued a separate London edition the same year that dealers catalog as the first British edition rather than a rival first.P-035576

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

The University of Arizona Press re-edition of 1974, edited and annotated by Donald M. Powell, is an abridged modern text of under 300 pages rather than a facsimile of the original 535-page narrative, so a notably shorter copy crediting Powell as editor is a later abridgment, not the 1869 first edition.P-035577

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Adventures in the Apache Country a first edition?

A first edition of Adventures in the Apache Country by J. Ross Browne (Harper & Brothers) is identified by: New York: Harper & Brothers, 1869 (copyright entered in 1868), collating 535, [4] pages, illustrated throughout with 155 wood-engraved illustrations drawn by Browne himself.

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 Harper & Brothers New York printing, copyrighted 1868 and dated 1869 on its title page, is the first edition; Sampson Low, Son & Marston issued a separate London edition the same year that dealers catalog as the first British edition rather than a rival first.

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

The University of Arizona Press re-edition of 1974, edited and annotated by Donald M. Powell, is an abridged modern text of under 300 pages rather than a facsimile of the original 535-page narrative, so a notably shorter copy crediting Powell as editor is a later abridgment, not the 1869 first edition.

I have a first edition of Adventures in the Apache Country — 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.