# Is "Another Country" by James Baldwin a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Another Country by James Baldwin (The Dial Press, 1962) is identified by: First printing has 1962 on the title page and a copyright page free of any later-printing statement; Dial states later printings, so the copyright page is the reliable test. Census claim confirmed: the US Dial Press edition of 1962 is the true first and precedes the first English edition, Michael Joseph (London), 1963.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First printing has 1962 on the title page and a copyright page free of any later-printing statement
- Dial states later printings, so the copyright page is the reliable test
- Octavo, 436 pp, publisher's black cloth
- Jacket designed by Paul Bacon, with the price present at the front flap
- Two cautions
- First, dealers advertising a "first state dust jacket" for this title are describing nothing more than an unclipped priced jacket — no jacket state point beyond the presence of the price is documented in any source consulted, and the phrase should be treated as marketing rather than a point
- Publisher imprint reads The Dial Press

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | James Baldwin |
| Publisher | The Dial Press |
| Year | 1962 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First printing has 1962 on the title page and a copyright page free of any later-printing statement |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First printing has 1962 on the title page and a copyright page free of any later-printing statement; Dial states later printings, so the copyright page is the reliable test. Octavo, 436 pp, publisher's black cloth. Jacket designed by Paul Bacon, with the price present at the front flap. Two cautions. First, dealers advertising a "first state dust jacket" for this title are describing nothing more than an unclipped priced jacket — no jacket state point beyond the presence of the price is documented in any source consulted, and the phrase should be treated as marketing rather than a point. Second, dealer binding descriptions conflict (black cloth lettered in white versus a white spine lettered in red and blue, the latter almost certainly describing the jacket spine), so identify by the copyright page, not the binding.

## Is this the true first?
Census claim confirmed: the US Dial Press edition of 1962 is the true first and precedes the first English edition, Michael Joseph (London), 1963. Both are collected. The Michael Joseph first reuses Paul Bacon's jacket design; one UK dealer records four British printings within 1963 alone, so the printing statement on the UK copyright page must be checked as carefully as on the US. Later Dell and Penguin Modern Classics settings are first-thus, not firsts.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No Dial book-club issue is documented for this title in the sources consulted; that is an absence of evidence, not evidence of absence. Later printings are identified by the printing statement on the copyright page.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Another Country* by James Baldwin a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/another-country
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.