Ray Bradbury First Editions

• Dark Carnival — 1947 · Arkham HouseArkham House first edition, printed by the Collegiate Press under August Derleth's editorial direction; the colophon states an edition of 3,000 though roughly 3,112 copies were actually printed. Bound in publisher's black Holliston Novelex cloth with the spine lettered in gilt; the pictorial dust jacket was designed by George Barrows and should retain its printed price on the flap. The collection gathers…. The US Arkham House edition is the true first; the abridged UK Hamish Hamilton edition followed in 1948. There is no contemporary book club edition; the Gauntlet Press reprint appeared much later.
• The Martian Chronicles — 1950 · DoubledayUS Doubleday (Garden City, NY), 1950, with 'First Edition' stated on the copyright page and no statement of a later printing. Octavo, 222 pages, bound in pale green cloth lettered on the spine in purple; the first-issue dust jacket carries its original printed flap price. Published May 1950. US Doubleday is the true first, preceding the UK Hart-Davis edition titled 'The Silver Locusts' (1951, with altered/added contents). The US Doubleday first is the canonical collectible. Doubleday Science Fiction Book Club editions lack the flap price, are printed on cheaper bulkier paper, and show a blind-stamped dot on the rear board or 'Book Club Edition' on the jacket flap. The book-club printing is very common and far more available than the trade first.
• The Illustrated Man — 1951 · DoubledayFirst edition states 'First Edition' on the copyright page. Beige buckram cloth, red pictorial dust jacket priced on the flap. Doubleday gutter/printing code present on the final text page consistent with the first impression. US Doubleday 1951 is the true first; UK Rupert Hart-Davis 1952 follows. Doubleday book-club edition lacks the 'First Edition' statement, has a blindstamp on the rear board, no flap price, and a different gutter code. Common.
• Fahrenheit 451 — 1953 · Ballantine BooksThree 1953 Ballantine issues, in this order of appearance: (1) the mass-market paperback (Ballantine #41), the true first appearance; (2) about a month later, the hardcover, issued in two forms — a signed and numbered limited of 200 copies bound in Johns-Manville 'Quinterra' asbestos boards (lettered in red), and the cloth trade first in a priced dust jacket. The 1953 issues carry a 'First Edition' statement on…. Precedence and collectibility diverge here. By date of appearance the paperback (Ballantine #41) is the true first; the hardcover followed by roughly a month. By collector preference the 200-copy asbestos-bound signed limited is the premier state, then the cloth trade hardcover, then the paperback. The asbestos limited and the cloth trade hardcover are printed from the same first-edition sheets (both contain the…. Later Ballantine printings drop the 'First Edition' statement and omit the two short stories. Beware the 'Bal-Hi' (Ballantine High School) edition begun January 1967: an expurgated school text — some seventy-five passages softened and words such as 'hell,' 'damn' and 'abortion' removed — issued alongside and then in place of the full text until Bradbury forced restoration of the original in 1980; it is a later,….
• The Golden Apples of the Sun — 1953 · Doubleday'First Edition' is stated on the copyright page. Bound in publisher's dark brown textured cloth with contrasting yellow spine stamping; a short-story collection illustrated throughout by Joseph (Joe) Mugnaini. The first-issue dust jacket carries the printed price on the front flap; any correct first-edition or later jacket should retain a printed price. The US Doubleday hardcover is the true first. The book-club edition lacks the 'First Edition' statement, carries a blind-stamp (a small dot, square, or star deboss) on the tail of the rear board near the spine, and its jacket carries no printed price.
• The October Country — 1955 · BallantineThe 1955 Ballantine hardcover is the first edition; the probable earliest state of the trade binding (Currey binding B1) shows the publisher's monogram stamped upside down at the base of the spine, in red cloth with black spine lettering. The volume reprints fifteen of the twenty-seven stories from Dark Carnival and adds four others. The US Ballantine 1955 hardcover is the true first; the Ballantine mass-market paperback followed in 1956, not simultaneously. There is no book club edition of note; later printings are distinguished by the corrected (right-side-up) spine monogram and other later-state markers.
• Dandelion Wine — 1957 · Doubleday"First Edition" is stated on the copyright page. Bound in bright yellow cloth with a yellow top-stain; the text runs to 281 pages. The first-issue pictorial dust jacket is printed in green and blue and should retain its printed price at the top of the front flap. The US Doubleday first edition (Garden City, September 1957) is the true first. Book Club editions lack the "First Edition" statement on the copyright page and carry the club blind stamp to the lower rear board.
• A Medicine for Melancholy — 1959 · Doubleday"First Edition" stated on the copyright page (Doubleday's practice for a first printing). Bound in black cloth with titling and decoration stamped in silver, illustrated by Joseph Mugnaini, and issued in the first-issue pictorial dust jacket bearing the printed price on the front flap. A collection of twenty-two stories, including 'The Dragon,' 'Fever Dream,' 'A Scent of Sarsaparilla,' 'Dark They Were, and…. US Doubleday first edition, Garden City, 1959. The UK edition of the same year, published by Rupert Hart-Davis, is a variant retitled The Day It Rained Forever with a different selection and ordering: it drops four stories ('A Medicine for Melancholy,' 'The First Night of Lent,' 'All Summer in a Day,' 'The Great Collision of Monday Last') and adds five ('Referent,' 'Almost the End of the World,' 'Here There Be…. Book Club editions lack the "First Edition" statement, carry the club blind stamp on the rear board, and have no printed price on the jacket flap.
• R Is for Rocket — 1962 · DoubledayUS Doubleday, 1962, with 'First Edition' stated on the copyright page. Bound in blue paper-covered boards. The first-state dust jacket carries Joe Mugnaini's cover illustration and the original printed price, lacks the later library-recommendation box on the lower front flap, and shows the early photographic portrait of Bradbury on the rear panel. Story collection of seventeen tales, two of which ('R Is for…. US Doubleday first edition, 1962. Collects seventeen stories; two appear in book form here for the first time. Book Club editions lack the 'First Edition' statement and carry the club blind stamp; they are also typically on lighter, cheaper boards.
• Something Wicked This Way Comes — 1962 · Simon & Schuster'FIRST PRINTING' stated on the copyright page with the Simon & Schuster imprint and no later printings. Dust jacket with its printed price. First state has the stated First Printing and the original unclipped jacket. US Simon & Schuster 1962 true first. UK Rupert Hart-Davis (1963) is first British. A signed/limited Gauntlet edition exists much later. First state told by the stated First Printing and the printed price jacket. Book-club editions lack the 'First Printing' statement, have the rear-board blind-stamp, and no jacket price. Stated 'First Printing' = trade first.
• The Machineries of Joy — 1964 · Simon & SchusterFirst printing with no statement of a later printing on the copyright page. Publisher's quarter yellow cloth over orange boards, stamped in black, top edge stained black. Priced dust jacket present. Story collection of twenty-one stories. US Simon & Schuster first edition, New York, 1964. A Bantam paperback edition followed and is a separate, later issue; the Simon & Schuster hardcover precedes it.
• The Vintage Bradbury — 1965 · Vintage/Random HouseVintage paperback original, V-294, September 1965, subtitled 'Ray Bradbury's Own Selection of His Best Stories,' collecting 23 stories with an introduction by Gilbert Highet. This is the first 'best of' Bradbury collection assembled by the author. A scarce simultaneous buckram-bound hardcover issue also exists. First thus selection. US Vintage first thus, September 1965; the component stories were previously published and precede this collection. Not applicable; no book-club edition.
• S Is for Space — 1966 · Doubleday"First Edition" stated on the copyright page. Doubleday & Company, Garden City, New York, 1966; bound in blue cloth with a red 'S' and white lettering on the spine. Collection of sixteen stories selected by Bradbury for younger readers. The first-issue dust jacket carries a painting by Joe Mugnaini with jacket design by William Wondriska and retains its printed price on the front flap (present, not clipped). US Doubleday first edition, Garden City, 1966; a collection of sixteen stories (several here in book form for the first time, including Chrysalis, Pillar of Fire, and Time in Thy Flight). Book Club editions lack the "First Edition" statement and carry the club blind stamp to the rear board.
• I Sing the Body Electric! — 1969 · Alfred A. KnopfUS Knopf first edition, 1969. The copyright page states 'First Edition' with the Borzoi colophon and no later-printing notice. The binding is blue cloth-backed grey (paper-covered) boards with gilt spine lettering. The trade dust jacket carries the printed price on the front flap. A collection of short stories and poems. A Borzoi book-club edition was issued the same period and is distinct from the trade first; it is identifiable by a blind stamp on the rear board and a jacket lacking the printed price.
• The Halloween Tree — 1972 · Alfred A. KnopfUS Knopf first edition, 1972, with the Borzoi imprint and 1972 on the copyright page; illustrated by Joseph Mugnaini. Bound in black cloth, the front board stamped in red and the spine lettered in red and silver, with orange-stained top edge and orange endpapers. The first-issue dust jacket shows Mugnaini's windy tree on a cream background and carries the original lower printed price on the front flap (the flap…. US Knopf first edition. Because the 1972 date persists on later Knopf states, identify the true first by the cream windy-tree jacket and the original low front-flap price rather than the copyright date alone. Book-club printings carry the same 1972 date but show a blind-stamped mark on the rear board and a jacket lacking the original printed flap price.
• Long After Midnight — 1976 · Alfred A. KnopfUS Knopf first edition of this 22-story collection, 271 pages. The copyright page states 'First Edition' with the Borzoi colophon and no printing history. Quarter-bound in brown cloth over lightly textured tan boards, with gilt lettering on the spine, the top edge stained red, an untrimmed fore-edge, and plain ivory endpapers. The trade dust jacket should retain its printed price on the front flap. US Knopf first edition, with 'First Edition' stated on the copyright page and no later-printing line. The Book-of-the-Month Club issue is identified by a blind stamp on the rear board and a dust jacket lacking the printed price.
• The Stories of Ray Bradbury — 1980 · Alfred A. KnopfCopyright page states 'First Edition' with the Borzoi colophon; trade dust jacket is priced. Large career-retrospective collection of one hundred stories, with title stamped in yellow-gold on the trade binding. US Knopf first edition. A signed presentation/limited issue of sixty specially bound copies also exists, carrying a tipped-in limitation leaf and a different binding. Book-club edition shows a blind stamp on the board and a jacket without the printed price.
• Death Is a Lonely Business — 1985 · Alfred A. KnopfThe Knopf trade issue states 'First Trade Edition' on the copyright page (not simply 'First Edition'); it is a 278-page octavo whose trade dust jacket should retain its printed flap price. The distinct Franklin Library issue of the same year is a leather-bound presentation volume (full dark green leather, gilt geometric border, raised spine bands, all edges gilt, marbled endpapers and a sewn-in ribbon marker)…. The true first is generally the signed Franklin Library issue (1985), which carries a special author's introduction found in no other edition and precedes/coincides with the Knopf trade. The Knopf 'First Trade Edition' is the first trade printing, not the overall first. Book-club edition is identified by 'Book Club Edition' on the jacket flap and the absence of a printed price.
• A Graveyard for Lunatics — 1990 · Alfred A. KnopfUS Knopf first edition, first printing: the copyright page states 'First Edition' with the Borzoi colophon and carries no later-printing notice. Bound in orange papered boards with the author's silver initials to the front, quarter navy cloth spine with silver titling and a bronze decoration. The first-state dust jacket reproduces a detail from Goya's 'The Madhouse' (Casa de locos) and, on the rear flap, shows…. US Knopf first edition is the true first. A later printing (dated August 1990) exists and is identified by added printing-history wording on the copyright page; the first-printing jacket carries the 7/90 code on the rear flap. The book-club edition is marked 'Book Club Edition' on the jacket flap, lacks the printed price, and is typically smaller with cheaper boards.
• Green Shadows, White Whale — 1992 · Alfred A. KnopfCopyright page states 'First Edition' with the Borzoi colophon and carries a complete number line ending in 1; dust jacket is priced. By 1992 Knopf first printings show both the 'First Edition' statement and the full number row, so both should be present. Illustrated by Edward Sorel. US Knopf hardcover is the true first edition. Book club editions are stated 'Book Club Edition' and/or lack the price on the jacket; they do not carry the Knopf number line.

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