Nelson Algren First Editions

• Somebody in Boots — 1935 · Vanguard PressFirst printing, Vanguard Press, New York, 1935, in orange cloth with black spine lettering and a reddish-brown top stain, 322 pages. Algren's scarce debut novel, drawn from his time in Depression-era Texas. The original pictorial dust jacket is elusive and frequently absent or replaced with a facsimile; when present it should carry the printed price on the flap. Copies are genuinely scarce, and markedly so in the…. US Vanguard Press 1935 is the true first; no notable simultaneous UK edition. The book is genuinely scarce, especially in jacket. No book club edition; later printings are stated on the copyright page, so a copyright page free of any additional-printing statement supports the first printing.
• Never Come Morning — 1942 · Harper & BrothersFirst printing carries the Harper letter code on the copyright page indicating a 1942 production date, found together with the words FIRST EDITION (the date code on first printings of this title is C-R). Introduction by Richard Wright. Issued in dust jacket priced 2.50. US first edition (Harper & Brothers, 1942). A UK edition followed later from Neville Spearman. Harper retained the words FIRST EDITION on later printings but changed the accompanying letter code to reflect a later production date, so the code (not the words alone) is the reliable point.
• The Neon Wilderness — 1947 · Doubleday & CompanyFirst Edition stated on the copyright page, per Doubleday's consistent 1940s practice of printing First Edition on firsts and removing it from later printings. Green cloth lettered in brown on spine. His first short-story collection. US first edition (Doubleday, 1947). A UK edition followed later from Neville Spearman. Later printings omit the First Edition statement on the copyright page.
• The Man with the Golden Arm — 1949 · Doubleday & CompanyFirst Edition stated on the copyright page (Doubleday convention). Title page dated 1949. Beige cloth stamped in green and red, green endpapers, top edge stained green. First-printing text states include 'that that' at page 121 line 31 and 'we' for 'be' at page 180 line 11. Dust jacket priced 3.00 with no mention of the National Book Award. US first edition (Doubleday, 1949). A UK edition followed from Neville Spearman. The first three printings all carry the 1949 title-page date, so the year alone does not establish a first; later printings show 1950 on the title page and omit the First Edition statement. Identify the true first by the stated First Edition plus the text-state points and the early dust jacket lacking any National Book Award notice.
• Chicago: City on the Make — 1951 · Doubleday & CompanyFirst Edition stated on the copyright page (Doubleday convention). Slim prose-poem essay in grey paper-covered boards with black cloth backstrip, titles stamped in silver on the spine, grey top stain; dust jacket priced 1.50. US first edition (Doubleday, 1951). Later editions from other publishers, including the University of Chicago Press, are reprints; the Doubleday first printing carries the stated First Edition on the copyright page, removed on later printings.
• A Walk on the Wild Side — 1956 · Farrar, Straus and CudahyFirst printing is identified by the words First printing 1956 stated on the copyright page. Aqua/blue-green paper-covered boards quarter-bound in yellow textured paper, lettered in gold and black. Dust jacket priced 4.50 on the front flap. US first edition (Farrar, Straus and Cudahy, 1956). A UK edition followed from Neville Spearman. Later printings note additional printings on the copyright page rather than First printing 1956.
• Nelson Algren's Own Book of Lonesome Monsters — 1962 · Bernard Geis AssociatesFirst printing, 1962. Anthology edited by Algren. Orange boards backed with a black cloth spine, issued in a printed brown dust wrapper. Notable for including Thomas Pynchon's story 'Entropy' alongside work by Saul Bellow, Joseph Heller, Bruce Jay Friedman and others. US first edition (Bernard Geis Associates, 1962). A UK paperback edition followed from Panther. Later printings would be so noted; first printings carry no later-printing designation.
• Who Lost an American? — 1963 · MacmillanFirst edition, first printing. Published by The Macmillan Company, New York, 1963. Quarter cloth over paper boards; dust jacket with the publisher's price on the front flap. A travel and essay collection of Algren's wanderings through Europe. US first edition (Macmillan, New York, 1963). Later printings are stated as such on the copyright page; the first carries no later-printing notice.
• Conversations with Nelson Algren — 1964 · Hill & WangFirst edition, first printing. Published by Hill & Wang, New York, 1964. A book-length series of interviews conducted by H. E. F. Donohue; cloth binding with gilt spine lettering and pictorial dust jacket. US first edition (Hill & Wang, New York, 1964). The interviewer of record is H. E. F. Donohue; the book is commonly catalogued under Algren as the subject and speaker. Later printings are stated on the copyright page.
• Notes from a Sea Diary: Hemingway All the Way — 1965 · G.P. Putnam's SonsFirst edition, first printing. Published by G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1965. Navy cloth with gilt spine lettering; dust jacket with the publisher's price on the flap. Per Putnam practice of the period, the first printing carries no later-printing statement. US first edition (G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1965). Later printings are noted on the copyright page.
• The Last Carousel — 1973 · G.P. Putnam's SonsFirst edition, first printing. Published by G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1973. Identified by 1973 on the copyright page with no subsequent printings listed. White linen cloth stamped in blue and red on the spine; dust jacket with the publisher's price on the flap. A collection of fiction and reportage. US first edition (G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1973). Later printings are listed on the copyright page; the first shows none.
• The Devil's Stocking — 1983 · Arbor HouseFirst English-language edition. Published by Arbor House, New York, 1983. Posthumous novel based on the life of boxer Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter, whose fictional counterpart is named Ruby Calhoun. Confirm the first printing by the copyright-page printing statement, with later printings noted there. The Arbor House 1983 edition is the first edition in English, but it is not the true first appearance of the text. A German translation by Carl Weissner, titled 'Calhoun: Roman eines Verbrechens,' was published by Zweitausendeins (Frankfurt) in 1981, two years earlier. The 'Calhoun' title is the German edition's, not a UK one; the later UK edition retained 'The Devil's Stocking.' Algren died in 1981, so all…. Later printings are noted on the copyright page.

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