4 Richard Yates first editions are documented on this shelf, from Revolutionary Road (1961) to The Easter Parade (1976) across 3 different publishers. Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that Richard Yates 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 Richard Yates copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.
- Revolutionary Road — 1961 · Atlantic-Little, BrownIssued as 'An Atlantic Monthly Press Book' (Atlantic Monthly Press / Little, Brown). Quarter cloth over boards, spine lettered in gilt; jacket design by Tony Palladino. First-issue dust jacket carries the price 4.75 on the front flap (not 4.50). An advance/review state exists in a distinct promotional jacket bearing publisher praise. The US Atlantic Monthly Press / Little, Brown printing is the true first; the UK edition (Andre Deutsch, 1962) follows. The advance review copy in the promotional praise jacket is the earliest state. First printings carry no additional-printing line; later printings note further printings on the copyright page. A price-clipped flap removes the 4.75 point and weakens the first-issue claim.
- Eleven Kinds of Loneliness — 1962 · Atlantic-Little, BrownIssued as 'An Atlantic Monthly Press Book' (Atlantic Monthly Press / Little, Brown). Apple-green cloth with the publisher's emblem blindstamped on the front board, spine lettered in black; jacket design by Ivan Chermayeff with the price 4.50 on the front flap. First printings carry no later-printing line. The US Atlantic Monthly Press / Little, Brown printing is the true first. Yates's second book and his principal early story collection. Later printings are noted on the copyright page; a price-clipped jacket removes the 4.50 point and weakens first-issue status.
- A Special Providence — 1969 · Alfred A. KnopfKnopf states 'First Edition' on the copyright page accompanied by the Borzoi colophon, with no later-printing notation. Bound in original blue cloth stamped in silver on the spine, issued in a dust jacket designed by Wendell Minor that should retain its printed jacket price. The author's third book. The US Knopf printing (October 1969) is the true first. Less collected than Revolutionary Road; confirm the stated 'First Edition' line with the Borzoi device and the blue cloth stamped in silver. Knopf first printings of this era state 'First Edition'; later printings drop that statement and add a printing record.
- The Easter Parade — 1976 · Delacorte Press/Seymour LawrenceTrue first edition: Delacorte Press/Seymour Lawrence, New York, 1976; Yates's fourth novel, 229 pp. The first printing states 'First Printing' on the copyright page. Binding is blue cloth with a yellow top-stain; the first-issue dust jacket is priced and unclipped at the front flap. An uncorrected proof exists in tall red wrappers with the title inked on the spine. US Delacorte Press/Seymour Lawrence (New York), 1976 is the true first. A first UK edition followed from Eyre Methuen, London, 1978 (jacket using Edward Hopper's Nighthawks) — so the census's 'no contemporary UK edition' is only loosely accurate: a UK first exists but is two years later and does not affect precedence. Critical trap: The Easter Parade was a Book-of-the-Month Club selection, and the BOMC printing is nearly identical to the trade first AND likewise reads 'First Printing' on the copyright page — the statement alone will NOT distinguish it. Identify the club copy by the blind-stamped device on the rear board and a jacket with the price absent from the flap; the trade first has the price present at the flap.
More Literary Fiction (US) & Award Winners shelves: Rick Moody, Robert A. Heinlein, Robert Charles Wilson, Robert Coover, Robert E. Howard, Robert Frost.
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