Is My Copy of 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

• Year code (J skipped): M=1912, N=1913 ... Z=1925, then A=1926, B=1927 ... Z=1950 (cycles).
• Code reads as two letters (month-year), e.g. 'K-Z' = October 1925.

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. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and decode the printing with the free First Edition Checker. Clearing out books? I take them as a free donation and make sure collectible copies are identified, not discarded: free pickup in the Albuquerque metro (scheduled by route), the 24/7 drop box at 5445 Edith Blvd NE, or donor-paid mail-in from anywhere in the US. Questions? Call or text 505-250-3804.

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.