6 John Dos Passos first editions are documented on this shelf, from One Man's Initiation: 1917 (1920) to The Big Money (1936) across 4 different publishers. Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that John Dos Passos 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 Dos Passos copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.
- One Man's Initiation: 1917 — 1920 · George Allen & Unwin, LondonDos Passos's first book. The true first is the London Allen & Unwin edition, published October 1920, in blue cloth. The text was bowdlerized, with passages cut or blanked for the censors (later restored in the 1969 Cornell University Press edition set from uncorrected proofs). UK precedes US. The first American edition was published by George H. Doran Company, New York, in June 1922 (a separate first American printing, not the true first). The 1945 Philosophical Library edition retitled First Encounter is a later reprint with a new author introduction. No book club. Do not mistake the 1922 Doran American edition or the 1945 First Encounter reprint for the true first; only the 1920 London Allen & Unwin edition is the first.
- Three Soldiers — 1921 · George H. Doran Company, New YorkFirst state of the first edition has the misprint signing for singing on page 213, line 31. Additional first-state points: three integral blank leaves at the front (none at the back), no colophon device on the copyright page, and the leaf bearing pages 9 and 10 tipped in rather than sewn. First-issue dust jacket carries the publisher's blurb on the front, spine, and back. True US first; precedes the UK Hutchinson edition (1922). The first-state textual point is the signing for singing misprint on page 213, line 31, corrected in later printings. No book club issue. Later printings correct the page 213 misprint, and Doran's colophon device appears on the copyright page of later impressions.
- Manhattan Transfer — 1925 · Harper & Brothers, New YorkFirst printing has First Edition on the copyright page together with the Harper month-year letter code K-Z (K equals October, Z equals the year 1925). Cloth stamped in orange; first-issue dust jacket. True US first; precedes the UK Constable edition (1927). The First Edition statement plus the K-Z code identifies the first printing. No book club issue for the first. Later printings carry a different month-year code pair on the copyright page.
- The 42nd Parallel — 1930 · Harper & Brothers, New YorkFirst volume of the U.S.A. trilogy, published February 1930. Bound in dark red cloth spine with patterned-paper boards and a printed paper spine label; first printing carries the Harper & Brothers date code on the copyright page (Harper used a two-letter month-and-year code in this era, with the year letter corresponding to 1930). Interior black-and-white illustrations are by Reginald Marsh. First-issue dust…. True US first; precedes the UK Constable edition of 1930. No book club issue for the first. Later printings carry a different Harper date code on the copyright page.
- 1919 — 1932 · Harcourt, Brace and Company, New YorkSecond U.S.A. volume, published March 1932. Bound in orange cloth, titles stamped in silver on spine and front cover. First printing has no statement of additional printings on the copyright page. First-issue trade dust jacket carries the printed price on the front flap (some advance copies lack a price). True US first; precedes the UK Constable edition of 1932. No book club issue for the first. Later printings note additional impressions on the copyright page.
- The Big Money — 1936 · Harcourt, Brace and Company, New YorkThird and final U.S.A. volume, published August 1936. First printing has 'First edition' stated on the copyright page with no other printings noted; bound in cloth lettered in silver. First-issue dust jacket carries the printed price on the front flap. True US first; precedes the UK Constable edition of 1936. The trilogy was first gathered into one volume as 'U.S.A.' by the Modern Library in 1937 (Harcourt, Brace issued its own one-volume 'U.S.A.' in 1938); the illustrated three-volume boxed set with Reginald Marsh illustrations was published by Houghton Mifflin in 1946 in a signed limitation of 365 copies. Each of those is its own separate first, not a state…. No book club issue for the first. Later printings note additional printings on the copyright page.
More Literary Fiction (US) & Award Winners shelves: John Fante, John Gardner, John Green, John Grisham, John Hawkes, John Hersey.
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