2 Mary McCarthy first editions are documented on this shelf, from The Company She Keeps (1942) to The Group (1963) across 2 different publishers. Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that Mary McCarthy 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 Mary McCarthy copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.

The Company She Keeps — 1942 · Simon & SchusterThe US Simon & Schuster (New York, 1942) hardcover is the true first and McCarthy's first book. Simon & Schuster did not adopt a 'First Edition'/'First Printing' statement until about 1952, so the 1942 first is identified by the '1942' date and the ABSENCE of any later-printing or additional-impression statement on the copyright page rather than by a printed first-edition line. It is bound in gray cloth with a…. US Simon & Schuster 1942 is unambiguously the true first. UK/British printings are all later — a Weidenfeld & Nicolson edition of 1957 is at most one later UK issue (an earlier UK edition may exist but is not corroborated) — so collectors treat the US 1942 as the true first.
The Group — 1963 · Harcourt, Brace & WorldThe US Harcourt, Brace & World (New York, 1963) hardcover is the true first. Harcourt, Brace & World (1960-1970) identified first printings by 'First Edition' (or 'First American Edition') stated on the copyright page and dropped that statement on later printings; the ABCDE letter-line system belongs to the successor Harcourt Brace Jovanovich imprint and does NOT apply to a 1963 book, so identification here rests…. US Harcourt, Brace & World 1963 is the true first; the first UK edition (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 1963) followed the same year and is the later issue. A book-club (Book-of-the-Month) issue exists; standard tells are 'Book Club Edition' printed at the lower front jacket flap with no price present, plus a small blind-stamp to the rear board.

More Literary Fiction (US) & Award Winners shelves: Mary Oliver, Mervyn Peake, Michael Chabon, Michael Crichton, Michael Moorcock, Mickey Spillane.

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