2 Booth Tarkington first editions are documented on this shelf, from The Magnificent Ambersons (1918) to Alice Adams (1921). Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that Booth Tarkington title from later printings and book-club copies — the publisher and year to expect, the number-line or edition-statement conventions, and the tells that show up in online listings.

Identification only, per the house rule: no prices and no appraisals here. Checking a Booth Tarkington copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.

The Magnificent Ambersons — 1918 · Doubleday, Page & CompanyReddish-brown cloth lettered in black; illustrated by Arthur William Brown. Title page and copyright page dated 1918 with no later-printing or code statement, and the Country Life Press colophon at the rear. The documented first-issue text point is the transposed reading at page 419, line 14, 'I can't see you why don't,' corrected in later issues to 'I can't see why you don't.' The first-state dust jacket carries…. US true first. For Doubleday, Page of this period there is no printed 'First Edition' statement, so rely on matching 1918 title and copyright dates, the absence of any later-printing code, the page-419 transposed-text point, and the first-state jacket price. The Grosset & Dunlap reprint, sometimes photoplay-tied to the 1925 film, is inexpensive and plainly a reprint. No significant book-club edition.
Alice Adams — 1921 · Doubleday, Page & CompanyTitle page and copyright page both dated 1921 with no later-printing statement. The first state has a textual point on page 419, line 14, where 'you' and 'why' are transposed, reading 'I can't see you why don't wear more colour'; this was corrected in later states. Blue cloth, 434 pages. The first-issue dust jacket shows a caricature of Tarkington on the back panel; a later jacket state replaces it with…. US Doubleday, Page 1921 is the true first. Confirm by matching 1921 on both title and copyright pages with no printing code, plus the page 419 transposition for the earliest state. The Grosset & Dunlap reprint is the common inexpensive copy and is clearly marked as a reprint.

More Literary Fiction (US) & Award Winners shelves: Bret Harte, Bruce Chatwin, Bruce Sterling, Budd Schulberg, Carson McCullers, Celeste Ng.

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