11 John Berryman first editions are documented on this shelf, from Stephen Crane (1950) to Recovery (1973) across 6 different publishers. Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that John Berryman 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 John Berryman copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.
- Stephen Crane — 1950 · William Sloane AssociatesBerryman's critical biography of Stephen Crane, a volume in the American Men of Letters series and his first prose book. First edition, first printing, William Sloane Associates, New York, 1950, cloth in dust jacket. US William Sloane Associates, 1950, is the first edition. No book club edition for the first.
- Homage to Mistress Bradstreet — 1956 · Farrar, Straus & CudahyFull title on title page: 'Homage to Mistress Bradstreet. With Pictures by Ben Shahn.' Shahn supplied the text illustrations and the jacket and board designs. First edition, Farrar, Straus & Cudahy, 1956, illustrated boards with dust jacket; a landmark long poem that first brought Berryman national critical attention. US Farrar, Straus & Cudahy (1956) is the true first; the Faber & Faber UK edition follows in 1959 (in a combined volume). No book-club edition.
- 77 Dream Songs — 1964 · Farrar, Straus and CompanyFarrar, Straus and Company first edition, first printing; blue cloth boards with gilt spine lettering, dust jacket designed by Marshall Lee. First printing imprint reads 'Farrar, Straus and Company' and the publisher address lacks a zip code; later printings show 'Farrar, Straus and Giroux.' Won the 1965 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. The first installment of The Dream Songs. Stefanik reference A11.1.a. US true first and Pulitzer winner; precedes the UK Faber and Faber edition (also 1964). Berryman's signature work. No book-club edition; first printing identified by the 'Farrar, Straus and Company' imprint and the absence of a zip code in the publisher address.
- The Dream Songs (77 Dream Songs) — 1964 · Farrar, Straus & Company'77 Dream Songs' won the 1965 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. First printing: Farrar, Straus and Company, 1964, with the first-printing line stated on the copyright page; in dust jacket designed by Marshall Lee. Bibliographic reference Stefanik A11.1.a. US Farrar, Straus (1964) is the true first; the Faber (London) edition is the first English. No book club. Later printings drop the first-printing line. 'His Toy, His Dream, His Rest' (1968) and the combined 'The Dream Songs' (1969) are separate books.
- Berryman's Sonnets — 1967 · Farrar, Straus & GirouxFirst edition, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1967; black cloth with gold spine lettering, yellow topstain and endpapers; jacket design by Herb Johnson. First printing carries the 'First printing, 1967' statement. Written decades earlier but first collected and published in 1967 (title page: 'Berryman's Sonnets, Now First Imprinted'). US FSG (1967) is the true first; the Faber & Faber UK edition follows in 1968. No book-club edition.
- Short Poems — 1967 · Farrar, Straus & GirouxFirst-thus gathering that collects the complete text of The Dispossessed, His Thought Made Pockets & the Plane Buckt, and Formal Elegy (on the death of JFK). First edition, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 1967, bound in paper-covered boards with a cloth spine, in dust jacket. The true first is identified by the stated first printing on the copyright page; do not rely on any single exact wording, as FSG…. US Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1967, is the first appearance of this gathered collection. No book club edition.
- His Toy, His Dream, His Rest — 1968 · Farrar, Straus & GirouxThe 308 Dream Songs completing the sequence begun in 77 Dream Songs. First edition, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 1968, cloth in dust jacket. Identify the true first by the stated first printing on the copyright page; FSG first-printing statements of this period are not uniformly worded, so do not rely on one exact phrase. US Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1968, precedes the UK Faber edition (1969). The combined The Dream Songs followed in 1969. No book club edition.
- The Dream Songs — 1969 · Farrar, Straus and GirouxFarrar, Straus and Giroux first edition, first printing; the first complete one-volume gathering of all 385 Dream Songs (combining 77 Dream Songs and His Toy, His Dream, His Rest); navy/black cloth with gilt spine titles, green endpapers; xx, 427 pages; pictorial dust jacket priced at the original price on the front flap. US true first complete edition (first thus for the unified text). Signed copies scarce given Berryman's death in 1972. No book-club edition; later printings carry a printing statement.
- Love & Fame — 1970 · Farrar, Straus & GirouxFirst edition, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 1970, cloth in dust jacket; identify by the stated first printing on the copyright page. A revised edition, which Berryman reworked (dropping and altering poems), followed in the early 1970s, so the 1970 FSG printing is the true first. US Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1970, is the first edition and precedes the UK Faber edition; it also precedes the later revised text. No book club edition.
- Delusions, Etc. — 1972 · Farrar, Straus & GirouxBerryman's last book of poems, published posthumously shortly after his death; includes the sequence Opus Dei. First edition, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 1972, black cloth with gilt spine lettering, in dust jacket. Identify by the stated first printing on the copyright page. US Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1972, is the first edition. A precise Faber UK first could not be confirmed from reliable sources, so no UK precedence is asserted here. No book club edition.
- Recovery — 1973 · Farrar, Straus & GirouxBerryman's unfinished, posthumously published autobiographical novel, with an introduction by Saul Bellow. First edition, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 1973, orange cloth with gilt spine lettering, in dust jacket. Identify by the stated first printing on the copyright page. US Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1973, is the first edition of this posthumous novel. No book club edition.
More Literary Fiction (US) & Award Winners shelves: John Cheever, John Dos Passos, John Fante, John Gardner, John Green, John Grisham.
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