2 David Halberstam first editions are documented on this shelf, from The Best and the Brightest (1972) to Summer of '49 (1989) across 2 different publishers. Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that David Halberstam 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 David Halberstam copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.

The Best and the Brightest — 1972 · Random HouseBlue cloth with gilt spine lettering; 688 pp; ISBN 0-394-46163-0. Copyright page states 'First Edition' with a number line whose lowest number is 2, which is the Random House first-printing convention for this period. First-issue jacket with the printed price on the front flap. The US Random House edition is the true first and precedes the UK (Barrie & Jenkins) edition. The 2001 Modern Library edition with a new introduction is a first thus. The Book-of-the-Month Club edition omits the printed price on the jacket, carries a blindstamp to the rear board, and lacks the 'First Edition' statement. The stated 'First Edition' plus a number line bottoming at 2 and a price-printed jacket identify the trade first.
Summer of '49 — 1989 · William MorrowFirst printing states 'First Edition' on the copyright page with a number line descending to 1; William Morrow boards; price-present dust jacket (price-clipping removes that point). Chronicle of the 1949 Yankees-Red Sox pennant race and the DiMaggio-Williams rivalry. True first US edition is the 1989 William Morrow hardcover. The Avon (1994) mass-market and Harper Perennial reissues are paperback reprints, not firsts. The Easton Press leather 'collector' issue is a later reprint, not the true first. The Avon mass-market (1994) is a reprint despite carrying the 1989 copyright date.

More Nature, Western & Americana shelves: Edward Abbey, Francis Parkman, Frank Waters, Gretel Ehrlich, Harvey Fergusson, Helen Hunt Jackson.

← All authors · All genres · part of the First-Edition Identification resource.