2 Joseph Wambaugh first editions are documented on this shelf, from The New Centurions (1970) to The Onion Field (1973) across 2 different publishers. Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that Joseph Wambaugh 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 Joseph Wambaugh copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.

The New Centurions — 1970 · Little, Brown"FIRST EDITION" is stated on the copyright page. The decisive jacket point is the author biography on the rear panel, which in the first printing describes Wambaugh as "half-Mexican" — wording removed from later printings — and the first-printing jacket carries no mention anywhere of a Book-of-the-Month Club selection. The book is an octavo of 376 pages, bound in blue paper-covered boards with a blue cloth spine…. US Little, Brown (Boston, 1970) is the true first, and the census claim is confirmed — Wambaugh's debut and the founding modern police procedural. The first UK edition is Michael Joseph (London, 1971), a year later, and is separately collected as the first British edition; UK Sphere and Futura issues are paperback reprints. Later Little, Brown Book Group, Quercus, and Grand Central reissues (some with a Michael…. This is the classic trap on this title. The book-club edition is otherwise identical to the trade first and its jacket even carries a printed price, so price presence alone will not sort them. Two documented tells decide it: the club jacket adds a "Book of the Month Selection" statement to the left of the price, which is absent from the trade first; and the club board carries a small square or round blindstamp at….
The Onion Field — 1973 · Delacorte Press"First printing 1973" is stated on the copyright page of the true first; the book was published in September 1973. It collates 427 pages, bound in black boards lettered in gilt on the spine, with red and blue metallic rules running across the spine and front board. The rear jacket panel carries a photograph of Wambaugh and a single endorsement — by Truman Capote, describing the book as a contribution to the…. US Delacorte Press (New York, 1973) is the true first, and the census claim is confirmed. Note for cataloguing that this is Wambaugh's work of narrative nonfiction (true crime), not a novel. The first UK edition is Weidenfeld & Nicolson (London, 1974; ISBN 0-297-76734-8), a year later, separately collected as the first British edition. Dell, Delta, and later Orion/Quercus issues are reprints or first-thus, not firsts. No book-club-specific point for this title is documented in the sources consulted, and the identical jacket design across the first five printings means jacket appearance cannot be used as a club tell either. US club copies of Delacorte titles of this period are identified in the usual way — no price at the jacket flap and a blind-stamped square or dot on the rear board, with lighter bulk and lower-grade paper….

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