Eugene O'Neill First Editions

• Thirst and Other One-Act Plays — 1914 · Gorham PressBoston: Gorham Press (Richard G. Badger), 1914, in the American Dramatists series. Small octavo, printed wrappers over boards. O'Neill's first book, the printing subsidized by his father; approximately 1000 copies. Contains Thirst, The Web, Warnings, Fog, and Recklessness. True first book and cornerstone O'Neill rarity. Remaining stock later passed to Frances Steloff of the Gotham Book Mart. No book club edition. Beware later facsimiles and reprints.
• Before Breakfast — 1916 · Frank ShayNew York: Frank Shay, 1916. A slim pamphlet of roughly nineteen pages in printed self-wrappers, stapled, this one-act play (subtitled 'A Play in One Act') issued separately. The Provincetown Players staged it at their MacDougal Street theatre in Greenwich Village in December 1916, the year of this separate printing. This Frank Shay pamphlet is the true first separate edition of Before Breakfast; scarce in the original wrappers. O'Neill's earlier book Thirst and Other One-Act Plays (Gorham Press, 1914) is a different, unrelated collection and does not precede this title. No book club edition.
• The Moon of the Caribbees and Six Other Plays of the Sea — 1919 · Boni & LiverightNew York: Boni & Liveright, 1919. Octavo; cloth spine with paper-covered boards, dust jacket. Approximately 1200 copies. Collects seven sea plays including The Long Voyage Home, In the Zone, and Bound East for Cardiff. US Boni & Liveright true first; jacket is scarce. No early book club edition.
• Beyond the Horizon — 1920 · Boni & LiverightNew York: Boni & Liveright, 1920. Cloth with dust jacket. O'Neill's first Pulitzer play. First-issue jacket carries the printed price on the spine and lacks the later-added Pulitzer Prize announcement. US Boni & Liveright true first. Later jacket states add a Pulitzer Prize blurb; no early book club edition.
• Gold — 1920 · Boni & LiverightNew York: Boni & Liveright, 1920, dated 1920 on the title page. Bound in original green quarter cloth with the spine and front cover lettered in black, fore and bottom edges untrimmed, and issued in a dust jacket cut slightly short as issued. 'Gold: A Play in Four Acts' is the full-length expansion of the one-act Where the Cross Is Made. US Boni & Liveright true first, dated 1920 on the title page. The stage premiere followed in June 1921, after book publication. No early book club edition.
• Desire Under the Elms — 1925 · Boni & LiverightFirst separate edition, Boni & Liveright, New York, 1925, issued in the Provincetown-Greenwich Plays series, the series line appearing at the head of the title. Octavo, 166 pages, bound in green cloth with gilt lettering to the spine and a gilt facsimile-signature and rule decoration on the front cover; the Provincetown-Greenwich Plays device (a small window looking out on a ship in full sail) appears in the…. The true first is the 1925 Boni & Liveright first separate edition. The play was written and first produced in late 1924, so it could not have appeared in the two-volume Complete Works of 1924; the earlier Complete Works precedence note was incorrect and has been removed. No book club edition.
• Lazarus Laughed — 1927 · Boni & LiverightSigned limited edition of 775 copies (750 for sale, 25 author's copies), signed by O'Neill and numbered on the limitation page; Art Deco decorated boards with vellum spine and paper label, publisher's slipcase. The trade cloth issue follows. The signed limited of 775 copies precedes the trade edition. No book club.
• Marco Millions — 1927 · Boni & LiverightTwo 1927 states from Boni & Liveright: a signed limited edition of 450 numbered copies, signed by O'Neill on the limitation page, and the trade cloth edition in dust jacket. The signed limited is the first issue. The signed limited edition of 450 copies precedes the trade edition. No book club.
• Strange Interlude — 1928 · Boni & LiverightFirst published by Boni & Liveright, New York, 1928. A signed limited edition of 775 copies was also issued, a quarto bound in vellum on all-rag watermarked paper and printed in two colors, with the play's interior 'spoken thoughts' asides set in blue ink and the rest of the text in black; issued in a publisher's box. The trade first printing carries no later-printing statement on the copyright page; the play's…. The US Boni & Liveright 1928 edition is the true first. The signed limited of 775 copies, with its limitation/signature leaf, is the premium collecting state and accompanies the trade issue. The trade first printing is identified by the absence of a printing history; later printings are stated. The signed limited is distinguished by its limitation page and two-color printing.
• The Emperor Jones (illustrated edition) — 1928 · Boni & LiverightThe 1928 illustrated edition was issued in a single signed, numbered limited state of 775 copies (750 for sale) with eight illustrations by Alexander King, signed by O'Neill on the limitation page. Decorated paper-covered boards over a black cloth spine with gilt titles, pictorial dust jacket and paper-labeled slipcase. There was no separate illustrated trade issue in 1928. First illustrated edition. It exists only as the signed limited of 775 copies; the King-illustrated 1928 book is itself the limited edition, not a trade printing. This is distinct from the earlier, unillustrated 1921 Boni & Liveright first appearance of the play. No book club.
• Dynamo — 1929 · Horace LiverightTwo 1929 states from Horace Liveright: a signed limited edition of 775 numbered copies (mottled blue vellum with leather spine label, deckled edges, publisher's slipcase, signed on the limitation page) and the trade cloth edition in dust jacket. The signed limited is the first issue. The signed limited edition of 775 copies precedes the trade edition. No book club.
• Mourning Becomes Electra — 1931 · Horace LiverightFirst published by Horace Liveright, New York, 1931 (the trilogy in one volume). A signed limited edition of 550 copies was also issued, bound in vellum with a black morocco gilt spine label and including facsimile leaves of O'Neill's working notes folded into a pocket at the rear. The trade first printing has no later-printing statement on the copyright page. The US Horace Liveright 1931 edition is the true first. The signed, numbered limited edition of 550 copies in vellum is the premium collecting state and accompanies the trade issue; the UK Jonathan Cape edition is a separate, later first thus. The trade first printing is distinguished by the absence of a printing history; the limited edition is identified by its limitation page and signature. No standard book-club edition is the collecting target.
• Ah, Wilderness! — 1933 · Random HouseRandom House, 1933, in two states: a signed limited edition of 325 copies bound in leather, signed by O'Neill on the dedication/limitation page, and the trade cloth edition in dust jacket. The signed limited is the first issue. The signed limited of 325 copies precedes the trade. This was the first O'Neill title published by Random House. Book-club issues appeared later.
• Days Without End — 1934 · Random HouseRandom House, New York, 1934. Issued in two states: a signed limited edition of 325 numbered copies on rag paper (large octavo, cloth over boards with a leather spine and corners, signed by O'Neill on the colophon) and the ordinary trade edition in cloth with dust jacket. The signed limited edition of 325 copies precedes the trade issue. No early book club.
• The Iceman Cometh — 1946 · Random HouseDenim-blue (dark blue) cloth with O'Neill's facsimile signature gilt-stamped on the front cover; spine titled in gilt within a red label; top edge stained red. Octavo, 260 pp. The first printing carries no later-printing statement on the copyright page; first issue is in the dust jacket with the printed price at the foot of the front flap. Later printings are stated (for example 'Third Printing'). Identify the…. The US Random House 1946 edition is the true first and precedes the UK Jonathan Cape edition. Signed examples are author-inscribed trade copies, not a separate issue. Later printings add a printing statement to the copyright page. No prominent book-club edition is the collecting target; the first trade printing in the priced jacket is.
• A Moon for the Misbegotten — 1952 · Random HouseRandom House, New York, 1952. First edition in cloth-backed boards with dust jacket; the copyright page carries both a 1945 unpublished copyright and the 1952 published copyright. The first-issue jacket retains its original printed price on the flap (present on an unclipped example). The US Random House 1952 edition is the true first; notably O'Neill allowed publication ahead of the stage production, which did not reach New York until 1957, after his death. Later book-club printings are distinguishable by their thinner bulking paper, a blind-stamped rear board, and absence of a printed jacket price; confirm the Random House imprint and the paired 1945/1952 copyrights.
• Long Day's Journey Into Night — 1956 · Yale University PressCopyright page states 'First Edition'; 176 pp. Issued both clothbound (quarter cloth over boards, spine blocked black and titled in gilt, with a black-and-white photographic dust jacket) and in printed wrappers, the wrappers issue also stated 'First Edition' and issued simultaneously. Multiple printings appeared rapidly; later printings are stated 'Second Printing,' 'Third Printing,' etc. on the copyright page. US Yale University Press 1956 is the true first (published posthumously; precedes the UK Jonathan Cape edition). Pulitzer Prize 1957. Both the hardcover and the stated-'First Edition' wrappers are first edition; the hardcover is the preferred collecting state. No book-club edition is the standard target; the key is the 'First Edition' statement with NO later-printing line on the copyright page. Second printing and beyond are explicitly stated.
• A Touch of the Poet — 1957 · Yale University PressYale University Press, New Haven, 1957 (posthumous), stated as first edition. Bound in green cloth, the boards stamped in gilt on the front and spine. The white pictorial dust jacket was designed by Burt Jackson and should carry its original printed price on the front flap. In the standard Atkinson bibliography of O'Neill (reference A44), the earliest binding state 'a' is distinguished by the absence of a small…. The US Yale edition is the standard-cited first, published as a stated first edition. Jonathan Cape published a London edition the same year (1957) in blue cloth with silver spine lettering; the two are distinguished by imprint and binding rather than a clear priority. No book club of note. Confirm the Yale imprint, the green gilt-stamped cloth, and Atkinson binding state 'a' (no clover stamp), with the priced Burt Jackson jacket present.
• Hughie — 1959 · Yale University PressYale University Press, New Haven, 1959, first English-language edition of this posthumous one-act play, in cloth with dust jacket. The binding is black boards stamped in silver and gold on the spine. The true first is complete in its priced dust jacket, whose printed price should be present on the flap. Yale 1959 is the first English-language edition. Hughie had its world premiere in Sweden (Royal Dramatic Theatre) in 1958, and a Swedish television version aired the same year, but a printed 1958 Swedish text edition preceding Yale could not be confirmed from reliable sources. No book club.
• More Stately Mansions — 1964 · Yale University PressYale University Press, New Haven, 1964 (posthumous, unfinished). First English-language edition in cloth with dust jacket; a reading version prepared by Donald Gallup following Karl Ragnar Gierow's shortened acting script, with a Carl Van Vechten frontispiece portrait. Yale 1964 is the first English-language edition. A Swedish acting adaptation by Karl Ragnar Gierow (with Sven Barthel) was staged in Stockholm in 1962, preceding the English text. No book club.

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