19 David Mamet first editions are documented on this shelf, from American Buffalo (1976) to Three Uses of the Knife (1998) across 9 different publishers. Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that David Mamet 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 Mamet copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.
- American Buffalo — 1976 · Grove PressGrove Press, New York, hardcover, copyright and published 1976, the author's first book; issued in hardcover with dust jacket and concurrently in wrappers. ISBN 0-394-17016-4. The hardcover with dust jacket is the collectible state. The play won the 1976 Obie and the 1977 New York Drama Critics' Circle Award. The US Grove edition is the true first book appearance. The play was first produced in 1975-76; first publication is the Grove hardcover. A book-club hardcover exists, identifiable by a blind-stamp on the rear board, a price-clipped or unpriced jacket, and lighter boards. The Methuen UK edition (1978) is a later, separate publication, not the first.
- A Life in the Theatre — 1977 · Grove PressGrove Press, New York, 1977, issued simultaneously in cloth with dust jacket and in wrappers, first printing so stated on the copyright page; Grove catalog number GP-806, roughly 95 pages. Jacket and cover design by Milton Glaser, depicting masked actors; the printed price should be present on the front flap. A First Evergreen paperback (Grove number E-709), also with a Glaser masked-actors cover, is a separate…. The US Grove Press 1977 edition is the first edition, in a simultaneous cloth and wrappers issue. A hardcover book club edition also exists and should not be mistaken for the Grove Press first; the club issue lacks the first-printing statement and the printed jacket price.
- Sexual Perversity in Chicago and The Duck Variations — 1978 · Grove PressGrove Press, New York, 1978, with 'First Printing 1978' stated on the copyright page, issued simultaneously in two forms: a cloth hardcover in dust jacket (ISBN 0-394-50161-1) and a wrappers issue (ISBN 0-394-17043-1). The scarcer cloth issue is the collected hardcover form; the blue cloth is prone to sunning along the top and bottom edges. Both forms carry the same 1978 first-printing statement. The US Grove Press 1978 edition is the first collected edition, in a simultaneous cloth-in-jacket issue and a wrappers issue. No book-club edition typically encountered. Distinguish the two simultaneous 1978 issues by ISBN — cloth 0-394-50161-1, wrappers 0-394-17043-1 — and confirm the 'First Printing 1978' statement on the copyright page.
- The Water Engine and Mr. Happiness — 1978 · Grove PressGrove Press, New York, 1978, issued simultaneously in cloth with dust jacket and in wrappers; the cloth issue was a small printing. First printing so stated on the copyright page; cream cloth with blue spine titles and illustrated jacket. The US Grove Press 1978 edition is the first edition, in a simultaneous cloth and wrappers issue. No book club edition typically encountered.
- Reunion and Dark Pony — 1979 · Grove PressGrove Press, New York, 1979 (Reunion and Dark Pony: Two Plays). Issued in wrappers as a paperback original, with a simultaneous cloth issue. Verify the copyright page for the first printing. US Grove Press first edition, 1979. No book club edition noted.
- The Woods — 1979 · Grove PressGrove Press, New York, 1979. Issued in light blue cloth over boards with gilt spine lettering and dust jacket, and simultaneously in wrappers. First printing states First Edition on the copyright page. US Grove Press first edition. No book club edition noted for the true first.
- Lakeboat — 1981 · Grove PressGrove Press, New York, 1981. The cloth issue is bound in maroon cloth with silver spine lettering, octavo, 111 pages, in a dust jacket designed by Roy Colmer; the jacket carries its printed price on the front flap and is not price-clipped in first state. Grove issued the title simultaneously in wrappers as well as the cloth hardcover. US Grove Press first edition, 1981, in either the maroon cloth hardcover (jacketed) or the simultaneous wrappers issue. No book club edition noted for the true first.
- Edmond — 1983 · Grove PressGrove Press, New York, 1983, the first edition of the play (which premiered at Chicago's Goodman Theatre in 1982). It was issued simultaneously in cloth with a dust jacket and in wrappers; the clothbound issue with jacket is the more elusive of the two and the one collectors most seek. The hardcover collates to 106 pages. On the trade first the jacket should retain its printed price on the flap. The US Grove Press first edition of 1983 is the true first appearance in book form. A book club edition exists and is distinct from the Grove trade first; it is a separate issue from both the clothbound trade hardcover and the simultaneous wrappered first, and should be distinguished from the true first when identifying a copy.
- Glengarry Glen Ross — 1983-1984 · MethuenMethuen, London, published the play in wrappers around the September 1983 Cottesloe/Royal National Theatre premiere, with the title-verso stating first publication in Great Britain and no later-printing line. Grove Press, New York, issued the US edition in 1984 in hardcover (with dust jacket) and in wrappers; the Grove hardcover is the desirable US state and carries a stated first-edition designation. Confirm the…. Precedence favors the UK Methuen edition: the play had its world premiere in London in September 1983 and Methuen published it around that time, ahead of the US premiere in early 1984 and the Grove US edition of 1984. Many collectors treat the Methuen London printing as the true first appearance in book form, with the Grove hardcover the preferred US state. Methuen Student Editions and later Modern Plays reissues (with study apparatus and full number lines) are reprints, not firsts. No common book-club state is recorded.
- Writing in Restaurants (essays) — 1986 · VikingThe Viking Press, New York, 1986 (ISBN 0-670-81140-8). Hardcover in dust jacket with 'First Edition' stated on the copyright page. The first-state jacket, illustrated by Roberta Ludlow, shows a writing pad and pencil, a cup of coffee and a smoking cigar in an ashtray, with red titles on a cream ground on the front panel and spine, and carries the original printed price on the front flap. Approximately 176 pages. US Viking Press first edition, 1986; the hardcover is the collectible issue. No book-club edition noted for the true first; the identifier is the stated 'First Edition' line paired with the priced Ludlow-illustrated jacket.
- Speed-the-Plow — 1988 · Grove PressGrove Press, New York, 1988, ISBN 9780802110282. First edition issued in hardcover (with dust jacket) and in trade wrappers; the hardcover is the desirable state. Confirm by the stated first-edition designation and the number line on the copyright page. The US Grove 1988 edition is the true first, concurrent with the Broadway premiere. The Methuen UK edition followed afterward, so US precedence here is not in doubt. Watch for later Grove printings lacking the first-edition statement or showing a reduced number line. No prominent book-club issue is recorded.
- On Directing Film — 1991 · VikingFirst edition, Viking, New York, 1991, the copyright page stating first published in 1991 with a full number line beginning with 1; 107 pages. Bound in quarter black cloth over black boards with an embossed design and the author's name to the top of the front board. Issued in a glossy black dust jacket lettered in gilt (author, title, and publisher), the jacket designed by Neil Stuart with the back-panel…. US Viking edition of 1991 is the true first; the Faber & Faber British edition followed in 1992. No book-club edition is a factor for the identified first printing.
- Oleanna — 1992 · Pantheon BooksPantheon Books, New York, 1992. First edition, first printing in hardcover with dust jacket; confirm by the first-edition designation and a complete number line running to 1 on the copyright page. Signed copies from the period exist. The US Pantheon 1992 hardcover is the true first. The UK Methuen edition is a separate, later publication. Later Vintage and Pantheon trade-paperback reprints are not firsts. No common book-club hardcover is recorded.
- The Village (novel) — 1994 · Little, BrownLittle, Brown, 1994, Mamet's first novel, bound as an octavo in black quarter cloth over gray paper-covered boards with the title stamped in silver on the spine, running to 238 pages. The first printing carries the number line 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 on the copyright page. The first-issue photographic dust jacket shows a wintry scene in the woods on the front panel and a photograph of a smiling Mamet on the rear…. US Little, Brown is the true first edition. No book club edition is a factor for the identified first printing; an uncorrected advance proof exists in stiff printed wrappers and is a distinct pre-publication state, not the first edition.
- The Cryptogram — 1995 · Methuen DramaThe play premiered in London in 1994; the published text appeared in 1995. The UK Methuen Drama paperback (in wrappers) is the earliest published edition. A US Vintage softcover also appeared in 1995. Beware the Vintage hardcover, which was a book club edition rather than a trade first. The London premiere preceded the New York production, and the Methuen UK wrappers edition is the true first published text over the US Vintage softcover. Confirm printing state on the copyright page. The only hardcover of this play was a Vintage book club edition; there is no trade cloth first. The genuine first appearances were issued in wrappers.
- The Old Religion (novel) — 1997 · The Free PressCloth over boards with dust jacket; The Free Press, New York, 1997. First printing has the full number line ending in 1. Quarter red cloth over black boards, titles gilt on spine, in an unclipped illustrated jacket. US Free Press is the true first edition of this novel based on the Leo Frank case. No book club edition is a factor for the identified first printing.
- True and False: Heresy and Common Sense for the Actor — 1997 · Pantheon BooksQuarter-bound black cloth spine over black paper-covered boards, silver-stamped spine title, in illustrated dust jacket. The US first edition states First Edition on the copyright page with a full number line. Octavo, 127 pages. US Pantheon Books hardcover is the accepted true first. A Faber and Faber edition appeared in the UK; collectors of the US point of origin want the Pantheon issue. No book club edition typically encountered. Confirm the number line and stated First Edition rather than relying on the jacket alone.
- The Old Neighborhood — 1998 · Vintage BooksTrade paperback in stiff illustrated wrappers, issued without jacket; a Vintage original, 1998. First printing has the number line 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1. Collects three plays: The Disappearance of the Jews, Jolly, and Deeny. A UK Methuen edition also appeared in 1998. Issued as a Vintage original in wrappers; confirm the number line on the copyright page for first printing. No book club edition; issued as a paperback original.
- Three Uses of the Knife — 1998 · Columbia University PressQuarter cloth over paper-covered boards, dust jacket; Columbia University Press, 1998. Subtitle On the Nature and Purpose of Drama. Three essays: The Wind-Chill Factor, Second Act Problems, and Three Uses of the Knife. US Columbia University Press is the true first edition. No book club edition is a factor for the identified first printing.
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