3 Charles Willeford first editions are documented on this shelf, from High Priest of California (1953) to Miami Blues (1984) across 3 different publishers. Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that Charles Willeford 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 Charles Willeford copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.
- High Priest of California — 1953 · Royal BooksTrue first is the paperback original, Royal Giant #16 (1953), bound back-to-back (a Royal double) with 'Wild Wives' in some states. Willeford's first novel. Paperback wraps only; Royal Books imprint and catalog number identify it. Paperback is the true first. Later editions pairing 'High Priest of California' and 'Wild Wives' (Re/Search, 1987, etc.) are modern first-thus collections. No book-club edition. Distinguish the Royal Giant #16 first from the 1987 Re/Search reprint and later editions.
- Pick-Up — 1955 · Beacon BooksTrue first is the paperback original from Beacon Books, 1955 — a small octavo in pictorial pictorial wrappers, roughly 191 pages, with the printed cover price present. No hardcover precedes it. Multiple ABAA dealers (L.W. Currey, Burnside Rare Books) catalog the first printing as Beacon #B-109 (not B102). The wrap-around cover art had earlier appeared on George Weller's 'Highway Episode' (Royal Giant #21, 1953).…. The 1955 Beacon paperback original is the true first. Modern reprints (Black Lizard/Vintage Crime, Re/Search) are first-thus only. No book-club edition. Distinguish the 1955 Beacon #B-109 first printing in pictorial wrappers from later reprints; verify the Beacon catalog number on the cover/spine.
- Miami Blues — 1984 · St. Martin's PressUS St. Martin's Press first edition, January 1984; first printing has the full descending number line ending in 1 on the copyright page. Black cloth with gilt spine lettering; first-issue jacket carries the printed price on the front flap, jacket design by Walter Harper. Octavo, 191 pp. (Ahearn ref. APG 018a.). US St. Martin's (1984) is the true first — the first Hoke Moseley novel and the book that revived Willeford's career. UK editions follow. Book-club edition lacks the printed price on the flap, typically lacks the full number line to 1, and is on lighter bulked paper; many show a blind-stamped dot or depression on the rear board.
More Literary Fiction (US) & Award Winners shelves: Charles Williams, Charlotte Brontë (as 'Currer Bell'), Charlotte M. Yonge, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Christopher Isherwood, Chuck Palahniuk.
← All authors · All genres · part of the First-Edition Identification resource.