2 Kent Haruf first editions are documented on this shelf, from The Tie That Binds (1984) to Plainsong (1999) across 2 different publishers. Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that Kent Haruf 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 Kent Haruf copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.

The Tie That Binds — 1984 · Holt, Rinehart and WinstonThe first printing states "First Edition" on the copyright page together with a FULL number line beginning with 1 — dealers report the first-printing line as "1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2." The trap is well documented on this title: the second printing drops the 1 and reads "3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2" while sellers still describe such copies as first editions, so count the line rather than trust the statement (Holt, Rinehart &…. US-only true first: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York, 1984 — Haruf's debut novel and considerably scarcer than Plainsong. No 1980s British edition was traced; the UK issue is Picador (London, 2002, ISBN 0330490451), published nearly two decades later in the wake of Plainsong's success, and the Vintage Contemporaries US paperback (ISBN 0375724389) is likewise a "first thus." Both are reprints. Only the 1984…. No Holt/Book-of-the-Month club issue for this title was traced in the sources consulted. Standard club tells apply and should be checked before relying on the copyright page: no price and no "1084" code at the jacket flap (often "Book Club Edition" printed there instead), a blind stamp or colored deboss at the lower rear board near the spine, and smaller trim with lighter bulk. On this title the number line is….
Plainsong — 1999 · Alfred A. KnopfFirst edition, first printing published by Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1999 (October 1999). Knopf first printings are identified by the stated 'First Edition' on the copyright page (Knopf convention; no number line) — later printings remove that line or note the printing. Bound in quarter dark-gray cloth over gray paper boards with silver spine lettering, roughly xii + 301 pp; priced first-issue jacket present at…. US precedes UK: Knopf (New York), 1999 is the true first; the first UK edition followed from Picador (London) in 2000. The Knopf first is the collected first edition. An advance reading copy in printed pictorial wraps precedes the trade edition and is an 'advance issue,' not the trade first. Book-club printings lack the stated 'First Edition' and the priced jacket; the stated 'First Edition' on the copyright page with a priced jacket marks the trade first.

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