Erskine Caldwell First Editions

• The Bastard — 1929 · Heron PressFirst edition, Heron Press, New York, 1929, illustrated by Ty Mahon, with a frontispiece and five plates and the title page set within a decorative border. The entire edition totaled 1,100 numbered copies in two states: copies 1 to 200 printed on American Handcraft paper and bound in balloon cloth, signed by author and illustrator on the limitation page; copies 201 to 1,100 (900 copies) printed on Mellow Book…. US first edition; one of the scarcest Caldwell titles. Banned for obscenity in Portland, Maine. No book-club edition. Later reissues exist; the 1929 Heron Press issue is the true first.
• Poor Fool — 1930 · Rariora PressFirst edition, Rariora Press, New York, 1930, limited to 1,000 numbered copies which constituted the entire edition (no trade printing). Illustrated by Alexander Couard, printed from Caslon type on Utopian laid paper, bound in blue buckram with gilt spine lettering. A boxing novel; Caldwell's second book. US first edition; the limited 1,000-copy printing is the only original edition, making it scarce. No book-club edition and no separate trade edition.
• American Earth — 1931 · Charles Scribner's SonsFirst edition, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1931, carrying the Scribner's 'A' with the publisher's seal on the copyright page that denotes a first printing in this era. Tan cloth lettered and decorated in green; illustrated dust jacket. Caldwell's first commercially published book and first major story collection (twenty-four stories), edited at Scribner's under Maxwell Perkins. US first edition, Scribner's, 1931. First UK edition: Martin Secker, London, 1935, retaining the title American Earth. Later Scribner printings lack the 'A' and seal. Note: 'A Swell-Looking Girl' was a later US paperback retitling (Fawcett Gold Medal / MacFadden-Bartell), not the UK first edition.
• Mama's Little Girl — 1932 · The Bradford PressSlim pamphlet in wrappers; a brief story issued in a tiny limited printing (roughly 75 copies), illustrated by Alfred Morang. Identified by the Bradford Press imprint and the printed wrappers. A scarce ephemeral first. US first; an early ephemeral piece issued the same year as Tobacco Road. Genuinely scarce, with only a handful recorded institutionally. No book-club or trade reprint of the original pamphlet; later collected appearances of the text are separate printings, not this pamphlet.
• Tobacco Road — 1932 · Charles Scribner's SonsScribner 'A' first-printing point: the capital 'A' with the Scribner seal on the copyright page, together with the date 1932 present on the title page. Terra cotta cloth stamped in blind and gilt with turquoise endpapers; octavo, 241 pages. The first printing was a small run of about 1,500 copies. First-issue dust jacket carries the printed price on the front flap and should retain it. US Scribner first; the later UK Grayson edition followed. A landmark Depression-era novel with a modest first printing. Later Scribner printings lack the 'A' and seal; a Grosset & Dunlap photoplay/tie-in reprint (issued alongside the long-running stage adaptation) exists and is not the first.
• God's Little Acre — 1933 · The Viking PressFirst printing; black cloth lettered and decorated in orange/yellow and green, top edge stained pink, fore edge untrimmed; no statement of later printing on the copyright page. Dust jacket priced at two-fifty. US first; UK Secker edition followed in 1933. His best-selling work. Later Viking printings are noted on the copyright page; a Modern Library reprint and other later editions exist.
• We Are the Living — 1933 · The Viking PressPublished by The Viking Press, New York, September 1933, collecting twenty stories (four of them new: 'The Medicine Man,' 'Meddlesome Jack,' 'The Grass Fire,' and 'A Woman in the House'). The true first is the signed limited edition of 250 numbered copies, each signed by Caldwell on the limitation leaf, bound in orange-tan cloth with titling and rules stamped in brown and green, top edge gilt, and issued in a…. The US first overall is the Viking signed limited of 250 copies, which precedes the unsigned trade printing; the Secker UK edition followed. On the trade issue, a clean copyright page with no added printing statement marks the first printing. Not a book-club title; later trade printings are identified by an added printing statement on the copyright page.
• Journeyman — 1935 · The Viking PressThe true first is the 1935 Viking signed limited edition of 1,475 copies, numbered and issued in a slipcase. There was no contemporaneous 1935 trade printing; Viking issued a revised and expanded edition in 1938, which is a later, textually different edition rather than a first. US first is the 1935 signed limited of 1,475 copies. The 1938 Viking edition is a revised/expanded edition and does not represent the first text. UK Secker followed. The 1938 revised edition and subsequent printings are not the first; they carry different text.
• Kneel to the Rising Sun and Other Stories — 1935 · The Viking PressA signed limited edition of 300 copies (285 numbered for sale, 15 reserved) precedes the trade and is the true first; issued in a tan paper-covered slipcase with top edge gilt and a yellow silk ribbon marker, signed on the limitation page. The trade first printing carries no statement of later printing on the copyright page. US first overall is the signed limited of 300 copies, which precedes the trade edition; the unsigned trade printing follows. UK Secker edition followed. Later trade printings are noted on the copyright page; a Grosset & Dunlap reprint exists and is not the first.
• Some American People — 1935 · Robert M. McBride & CompanyFirst printing, published 1935 by Robert M. McBride & Company, New York. Non-fiction Depression-era reportage; Caldwell's first collection of non-fiction pieces. US first edition. Later printings and reprints exist; a true first is the McBride 1935 issue.
• The Sacrilege of Alan Kent — 1936 · Falmouth Book HouseFirst separate edition, 1936, Falmouth Book House, Portland, Maine. A limited issue of about 300 numbered copies signed by Caldwell, illustrated with wood engravings by Ralph Frizzell. Prose poem of roughly 57 pages in pale green boards with a printed dust jacket. US first separate edition; scarce signed limited issue. The text had appeared earlier, in slightly different form, as the closing piece in the collection American Earth (1931); this is its first appearance as a separate book. No trade reprint of this signed limited issue; later reprints in collected editions are not the limited first.
• You Have Seen Their Faces — 1937 · Viking PressFirst printing, Viking Press, November 1937. Photo-text collaboration with Margaret Bourke-White; tan cloth lettered in red, with the original pictorial dust jacket. Landmark Depression-era documentary photo book. US first edition (Viking, 1937). A wrappered cheap reprint was issued by Modern Age Books shortly after the Viking hardcover; that softcover is not the first edition. Later printings exist.
• Southways — 1938 · The Viking PressFirst printing, The Viking Press, New York, 1938, a collection of roughly sixteen short stories running about 206 pages. The copyright page states 'Published in June 1938' with no later printings noted, which identifies the first printing. Bound in coarsely woven slate-blue cloth, the spine and upper cover ruled in red and lettered in black, with a stained top edge; the volume is dedicated to Margaret…. US first edition (Viking, June 1938); a UK edition followed from Secker in 1938. Later printings and reprints exist and will note additional printings on the copyright page; the true first is the June 1938 Viking issue.
• North of the Danube — 1939 · The Viking PressFirst printing, The Viking Press, 1939. Second photo-text collaboration with Margaret Bourke-White, documenting Czechoslovakia on the eve of the Nazi invasion; text by Caldwell with black-and-white photogravures by Bourke-White, in cloth with dust jacket. US first edition (Viking, 1939). Later printings and reprints exist; the true first is the 1939 Viking issue. Some copies were signed by both author and photographer on the half title.
• Jackpot: The Short Stories of Erskine Caldwell — 1940 · Duell, Sloan and PearceFirst printing of the omnibus (January 1940) gathering seventy-five stories, each introduced by Caldwell's own comment, with several appearing in book form for the first time. Bound in dark navy-blue buckram with bright silver lettering to the front cover and spine, a red top-edge stain, and a deckled fore-edge; the substantial volume runs to roughly 756 pages. The first-issue dust jacket is printed in black, red…. US Duell, Sloan and Pearce first edition (January 1940) is the priority issue. Later printings and reprints exist; confirm the navy buckram binding with silver stamping, red top-stain and priced black-red-white jacket to identify the trade first.
• Trouble in July — 1940 · Duell, Sloan and PearceFirst printing, Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1940. Novel of a Deep South lynching, about 241 pages, in cloth with the original dust jacket. US first edition; UK edition followed (Hutchinson, 1940). Later printings and reprints exist; the true first is the 1940 Duell, Sloan and Pearce issue.
• Say! Is This the U.S.A.? — 1941 · Duell, Sloan and PearceFirst printing of the Erskine Caldwell and Margaret Bourke-White photo-text collaboration (Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1941), a folio measuring roughly 9 by 12 and a quarter inches, about 182 pages illustrated throughout with black-and-white Bourke-White photographs, many full-page. Bound in pictorial cloth boards with the title stamped on spine and covers, the lettering to spine prone to fading; the front board…. US first edition (Duell, Sloan and Pearce, New York). Later printings and reprints exist; the 1941 first printing is the priority issue. Often found lacking the fragile dust jacket.
• All Night Long — 1942 · Duell, Sloan and PearceFirst printing of the WWII Russia-front guerrilla-warfare novel, subtitled 'A Novel of Guerrilla Warfare in Russia'; published by Duell, Sloan and Pearce, New York, 1942, octavo, 283 pages, bound with a blue cloth spine lettered in black, in a pictorial dust jacket carrying its printed price on the front flap. US first edition, the Duell, Sloan and Pearce trade printing of 1942. A Book League of America book club edition was also issued in 1942 and must be distinguished from the Duell, Sloan and Pearce trade first. The Book League club copies were issued without a dust jacket, typically in dark navy (sometimes red or black) cloth with an embossed device on the front cover and a blind-stamp at the tail of the rear board near the spine; the true first carries the Duell, Sloan and Pearce….
• Georgia Boy — 1943 · Duell, Sloan and PearceFirst printing of the linked-story novel, an octavo of [8], 239 pages with 'first edition' stated on the copyright page. Bound in orange cloth with the spine lettered in silver. The first-issue dust jacket carries the publisher's printed price on the front flap; the presence of that printed price, rather than any specific amount, is the point to confirm. US first edition, Duell, Sloan and Pearce, New York, 1943. Later printings and reprints exist; the copy with 'first edition' stated on the copyright page in orange cloth is the priority issue.
• Tragic Ground — 1944 · Duell, Sloan and PearceFirst edition, first printing published by Duell, Sloan and Pearce, New York, 1944; the copyright page of the first printing bears no later-printing notice, whereas later printings within the first edition are designated 'Second Printing.' Grey cloth with green lettering on the spine, 12mo; collation runs to page 237. A wartime imprint, printed on wartime-standard paper. The dust jacket should carry the printed…. US first edition (Duell, Sloan and Pearce, New York, 1944). Later printings within the first edition are marked 'Second Printing'; absence of any such notice indicates the first printing.
• A House in the Uplands — 1946 · Duell, Sloan and PearceFirst edition, first printing of the Southern plantation novel, New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1946. Green cloth over boards with silver lettering to the front board and spine, collating [6] plus 238 pages, octavo (about 20.5 cm), issued in a pictorial dust jacket whose upper flap describes the decay of the Southern gentry. A first-issue jacket is unclipped and retains the original printed price on the flap. US first edition (Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1946); no earlier printing precedes it. Later printings and reprints exist; the priority issue is the 1946 Duell, Sloan and Pearce first printing in green cloth with silver stamping under the unclipped pictorial jacket.
• The Sure Hand of God — 1947 · Duell, Sloan and PearceFirst edition, first printing, published by Duell, Sloan and Pearce, New York, 1947. Copyright page carries the firm's First Edition statement with no later-printing notations. Issued in green cloth lettered in black on front and spine, in dust jacket. US edition is the true first. A UK edition followed from Falcon Press in 1948. Later printings exist and are distinguished by the absence of the First Edition statement and the presence of added printing notations; no book-club issue noted for the first appearance.
• This Very Earth — 1948 · Duell, Sloan and PearceFirst edition, first printing, Duell, Sloan and Pearce, New York, 1948; the copyright page states 'First Edition.' Caldwell's tenth novel, bound in red cloth and running 254 pages, issued in a printed dust jacket. The printed jacket price should be present on the front flap of a first-issue jacket. US edition is the true first. A UK edition followed from Falcon Press in 1949. Later printings drop the 'First Edition' statement; confirm no added printing line on the copyright page.
• Place Called Estherville — 1949 · Duell, Sloan and PearceFirst edition, first printing, Duell, Sloan and Pearce, New York, 1949. Copyright page carries the First Edition statement. Octavo in light blue cloth, titles stamped in red on spine and front cover, red top stain, in dust jacket; collation runs to 244 pp. US edition is the true first. A UK edition followed in 1950. Later printings lack the First Edition statement. The title appears on the title page as Place Called Estherville, though it is frequently catalogued as A Place Called Estherville.
• Episode in Palmetto — 1950 · Duell, Sloan and PearceFirst edition, first printing from Duell, Sloan and Pearce, New York, 1950. This publisher's firsts are identified by a stated 'First Edition' on the copyright page (in the absence of any later-printing notation); the house also used a Roman-numeral system where 'I' denotes the first printing and 'II', 'III' and so on denote subsequent printings. Hardcover issued in a printed dust jacket, which should retain its…. The US Duell, Sloan and Pearce edition is the true first. A UK edition followed from Heinemann in 1951. Later printings either drop the 'First Edition' statement or carry a Roman numeral higher than I on the copyright page; confirm 'First Edition' (or 'I') and no added printing notation.
• Call It Experience — 1951 · Duell, Sloan and PearceFirst edition, first printing, Duell, Sloan and Pearce, New York, 1951. Full title Call It Experience: The Years of Learning How to Write, Caldwell's memoir of his apprenticeship as a writer. Copyright page states First Edition; 239 pp., hardcover in dust jacket. US edition is the true first. A UK edition followed from Heinemann in 1952. Later printings lack the First Edition statement. Not a novel but Caldwell's autobiographical account of his writing years.
• A Lamp for Nightfall — 1952 · Duell, Sloan and PearceFirst edition, first printing, Duell, Sloan and Pearce, New York, 1952. Copyright page states First Edition; 211 pp., hardcover in dust jacket. The novel was written roughly two decades earlier and held unpublished until this 1952 appearance. US edition is the true first. A UK edition followed from Heinemann in 1953. Later printings drop the First Edition statement. A Fawcett Gold Medal and later Signet paperback followed and are not the first; confirm the hardcover Duell, Sloan and Pearce issue.
• Love and Money — 1954 · Duell, Sloan and PearceFirst printing, with the Duell, Sloan and Pearce imprint. By the mid-1950s the firm's books were manufactured and distributed under arrangement with Little, Brown, and first printings carry the publisher's first-edition statement on the copyright page with no later-printing notice. US edition is the true first; the UK edition followed from Heinemann in 1955. Later printings are normally indicated on the copyright page; book-club and paperback reprints (including a Signet edition) followed.
• Gretta — 1955 · Little, Brown and CompanyFirst edition stated. Little, Brown first printings of this era carry 'First Edition' or 'First Printing' on the copyright page; dealer copies of the true first are described as 'first edition so stated.' Blue cloth, spine lettered in silver, with a dust jacket designed by Edward Karr; 242 pages. US edition is the true first; the UK edition followed from Heinemann in 1956. Later printings are normally indicated; a Signet paperback followed in 1956.
• Gulf Coast Stories — 1956 · Little, Brown and CompanyFirst edition stated on the copyright page, Little, Brown and Company, Boston (with Toronto imprint on the title page), 1956. Little, Brown first printings of this period carry 'First Edition' or 'First Printing' on the copyright page with no later-printing statement. A collection of gulf-coast stories bound in green cloth and issued in a pictorial dust jacket; a correct first-issue jacket retains its printed…. The US Little, Brown edition of 1956 is the true first; the UK edition followed from Heinemann in 1957. Later printings are normally indicated by a printing statement on the copyright page; a Signet mass-market paperback (with cover art) followed in 1957 and is easily distinguished from the cloth first.
• Certain Women — 1957 · Little, Brown and CompanyLittle, Brown and Company first printing, Boston (and Toronto), 1957, issued in cloth in a priced dust jacket. Little, Brown first printings of this period state "First Edition" or "First Printing" on the copyright page (the house convention since 1940), with later printings separately indicated. A collection of seven linked short stories, each centered on a woman, set in the town of Claremore. US edition is the true first; the UK edition followed from Heinemann in 1958. Later printings are normally indicated on the copyright page; a first printing carries the "First Edition"/"First Printing" statement with no later-printing notation.
• Claudelle Inglish — 1958 · Little, Brown and CompanyLittle, Brown and Company, Boston, 1958, first printing, with 'First Edition' stated on the copyright page per Little, Brown practice of the period. Cloth-bound in a pictorial dust jacket; the book runs 208 pages. The printed jacket price should be present on the front flap of a first-issue jacket. US edition is the true first; the UK edition followed from Heinemann in 1959, retitled 'Claudelle.'. Later Little, Brown printings drop or replace the 'First Edition' statement; confirm the copyright page carries no added printing indication.
• When You Think of Me — 1959 · Little, Brown and CompanyLittle, Brown and Company first printing, Boston (and Toronto), 1959, issued in cloth in a priced dust jacket. Little, Brown first printings of this period state "First Edition" or "First Printing" on the copyright page (the house convention since 1940), with later printings separately indicated. A short story collection; the volume carries illustrations by Louis Macouillard. US edition is the true first; the UK edition followed from Heinemann in 1960. Later printings are normally indicated on the copyright page; a first printing carries the "First Edition"/"First Printing" statement with no later-printing notation.
• Jenny by Nature — 1961 · Farrar, Straus and CudahyFirst printing, with the stated First Printing on the copyright page and no statement of any later printing. Octavo of about 215 pages, bound in green paper-covered boards with a green/gray cloth spine stamped in silver. First-issue dust jacket designed by Ben Feder; on an unclipped example the printed price is present on the front flap. US first edition (Farrar, Straus and Cudahy, New York, 1961), stated First Printing. The UK edition (Heinemann, 1962) follows. Later printings exist; identify the true first by the stated First Printing and the absence of any later-printing statement on the copyright page.
• Close to Home — 1962 · Farrar, Straus and CudahyFirst printing carries the Farrar, Straus and Cudahy imprint on the title page and shows no statement of a later printing on the copyright page; any wording indicating a second or subsequent printing rules out the first. The identification rests on that absence rather than on a stated-edition line, which this early-1960s Farrar, Straus and Cudahy title does not carry. US first edition, Farrar, Straus and Cudahy, New York, 1962, is the true first. A Heinemann edition (London, Melbourne and Toronto) also appeared in 1962; both are 1962 firsts in their respective markets, with the New York issue standing as the primary first edition. Later printings exist; identify the true first by the absence of any later-printing statement on the copyright page. A first-state dust jacket should retain its printed price at the flap corner; price presence or absence does not by itself establish edition.
• The Last Night of Summer — 1963 · Farrar, Straus and CompanyFirst printing, with no statement of later printing on the copyright page; 178 pages. Blue cloth spine with green and white lettering, in the pictorial dust jacket with the printed price present on the front flap. US first edition, Farrar, Straus and Company, New York, 1963. The UK edition followed from Heinemann, London, in 1964. Later printings exist and are stated on the copyright page; identify the true first by the absence of any later-printing statement and by the priced pictorial jacket.
• Around About America — 1964 · Farrar, Straus and CompanyFirst printing, with no statement of later printing on the copyright page. Travel non-fiction illustrated with drawings by Virginia M. Caldwell. US first edition (Farrar, Straus, New York, 1964). 1964 was a transition year for the imprint, which moved from Farrar, Straus and Company to Farrar, Straus and Giroux; the title page should be read to confirm which form it carries. Later printings exist; identify the true first by the absence of any later-printing statement.
• In Search of Bisco — 1965 · Farrar, Straus and GirouxFirst printing, with no statement of later printing on the copyright page. Civil-rights-era reportage in which Caldwell searches the South for a Black boyhood friend. US first edition (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 1965). Later printings exist; identify the true first by the absence of any later-printing statement.
• The Deer at Our House — 1966 · Collier BooksFirst printing. Children's picture book illustrated by Ben Wohlberg. US first edition (Collier Books / Collier-Macmillan, New York, 1966). Later printings exist; identify the true first by the absence of any later-printing statement.
• Miss Mamma Aimee — 1967 · New American LibraryFirst edition states first printing on the copyright page. Issued in red cloth boards with yellow lettering to the spine and an orange flower device, in a pictorial dust jacket that should retain its printed price and is otherwise a common price-clipped-agnostic point (a clipped jacket does not by itself indicate a later state). Dealer copies of confirmed firsts describe the red cloth, yellow spine stamping and…. US first edition. A UK edition (Weidenfeld and Nicolson) followed; the New American Library New York printing is the true first. Later Signet mass-market paperback reprints (series number T3313) exist and are not the first edition. Verify the stated first-printing line on the copyright page and the red cloth hardcover binding rather than pictorial wrappers.
• Writing in America — 1967 · PhaedraFirst edition published by Phaedra Publishers, New York, 1967; a collection of essays on writing. US first edition. Reprints postdate the 1967 Phaedra printing.
• Deep South: Memory and Observation — 1968 · Weybright and TalleyFirst US edition, Weybright and Talley, New York, 1968; nonfiction on Southern Protestantism, 257 pages, in cloth with dust jacket. The jacket should carry its printed price on the front flap. First complete edition. Part one had earlier appeared in England, in 1966, under the title In the Shadow of the Steeple; the 1968 Weybright and Talley printing is the first US and first complete edition. A 1995 University of Georgia Press reissue and other later editions (including a New American Library/Signet paperback) are not the first. Confirm the 1968 Weybright and Talley imprint.
• The Weather Shelter — 1969 · World PublishingFirst edition published by The World Publishing Company, New York and Cleveland, 1969. World firsts are identified by a stated First Edition or First Printing line on the copyright page, not by the absence of a number line. US first edition. Later New American Library and UK (W.H. Allen) editions are not the first. Confirm the stated First Edition or First Printing line on the World copyright page.
• The Earnshaw Neighborhood — 1971 · World PublishingFirst edition, first printing, The World Publishing Company, 1971. Identified by the stated First Edition or First Printing line on the copyright page per World convention. US first edition. Later reprints and a Signet paperback are not the first. Confirm the stated first-printing line on the World copyright page.
• Annette — 1973 · New American LibraryFirst edition, New American Library, New York, 1973; Caldwell's final novel. Bound in teal cloth with gilt titling stamped on the spine. The copyright page carries the NAL first-printing indication; the first-issue dust jacket should retain its printed cover price on the front flap. US first edition. A second printing in cloth exists and is not the first; later French-language editions are separate. Confirm the first-printing indication on the NAL copyright page.
• Afternoons in Mid-America — 1976 · Dodd, MeadFirst edition, first printing, issued in cloth by Dodd, Mead, New York, 1976, under the full title Afternoons in Mid-America: Observations and Impressions (ISBN 0396073484). A volume of travel impressions gathered on Erskine and Virginia Caldwell's drive through the middle of the country, illustrated with photographs; the first printing is complete in cloth with the pictorial dust jacket, the printed jacket price…. US first edition, Dodd, Mead, New York, 1976. No prior or competing edition precedes it. Later printings are stated as such on the copyright page; the true first shows no later-printing statement. Confirm the full subtitle Observations and Impressions and the cloth binding with dust jacket.
• With All My Might — 1987 · Peachtree PublishersFirst printing, issued by Peachtree Publishers, Atlanta, 1987. Caldwell's final book, a definitive autobiography expanding on the earlier Call It Experience; illustrated with black-and-white photographs. US first edition; Caldwell's last book, published shortly before his death in April 1987. Later printings are identified on the copyright page.

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