Robert Coover First Editions

• The Origin of the Brunists — 1966 · G. P. Putnam's SonsPutnam first printing with no later-printing line on the copyright page. First-state dust jacket has the spine title BRUNISTS set too wide, measuring about 1-the printed price inches tall; the second-state jacket reduced the font so the spine title measures about 1-the printed price inches. Coover's first novel; winner of the William Faulkner Foundation Award for best first novel. The US Putnam edition is the true first; the UK edition (Barker, 1967) follows. Putnam book-club copies show a Book Club Edition notice on the jacket flap and a blind-stamp or gutter code; the trade first carries the original priced jacket.
• The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop. — 1968 · Random HouseRandom House, New York, 1968. First printing stated on the copyright page per Random House practice of the period (the words 'First Edition' / 'First Printing'). Octavo, 242 pages; tan paper-covered boards over red pictorial cloth, spine stamped in silver; dust jacket designed by Adelson & Eichinger with original price to the front flap. Frequently catalogued under the short title 'The Universal Baseball…. The US Random House edition is the true first; the UK Jonathan Cape edition (1970) follows. Book-club copies of this period are typically identified by a small blind gutter dot on the rear board and by a jacket flap that lacks the printed price; the trade first carries the original flap price and the stated first-printing line.
• Pricksongs & Descants — 1969 · E.P. DuttonFirst edition, first printing; priced dust jacket (5.95 on front flap). Off-white cloth with brown cloth spine. Full title on title page is Pricksongs & Descants: Fictions. Coover's first story collection, including The Babysitter. True first is the 1969 E.P. Dutton edition. UK: Jonathan Cape, 1971. Book-club issue is typically blind-stamped on the rear board and has a jacket lacking the printed price; verify the priced jacket on the trade first.
• A Theological Position — 1972 · E.P. DuttonFirst edition, E.P. Dutton, New York, 1972, issued simultaneously in cloth-backed boards with a priced dust jacket and in trade wrappers. Octavo (22 cm), 172 pages, collecting four plays: The Kid, Love Scene, Rip Awake, and A Theological Position. The hardcover issue should retain its unclipped printed price to the jacket (present, though price-clipping alone does not demote a correct first). True first is the 1972 E.P. Dutton edition, with the cloth (in jacket) and wrappers issues published together. None notable; distinguish the cloth issue in its priced jacket from the simultaneous trade-wrappers issue.
• The Public Burning — 1977 · The Viking PressThe Viking Press, New York, 1977. First edition with the printed statement 'First published in 1977 by The Viking Press' on the copyright page and no statement of a later printing; quarter white cloth over black paper boards, 534 pages; first-issue dust jacket carrying the original price to the flap. The Rosenberg/Nixon novel. The US Viking Press edition is the true first. Book-club issues of the period are distinguished by a flap that lacks a printed price and, on some copies, a blind code stamped at the lower rear board; the trade first carries the printed flap price and the publisher's first-published statement.
• A Political Fable — 1980 · Viking PressFirst book edition; Viking number line down to 1; priced dust jacket. Slim volume. The text first appeared, in slightly different form, in New American Review (1968) as 'The Cat in the Hat for President.'. True first in book form is the 1980 Viking edition; the text predates it as a 1968 periodical appearance. None notable; an uncorrected proof exists and should not be confused with the first trade edition.
• Spanking the Maid — 1982 · Bruccoli Clark / Grove PressThe true first is the Bruccoli Clark Publishers limited edition of 1981, a signed and numbered issue of 600 copies illustrated by Rikki Ducornet (copies I to XCV specially bound with a leaf of the author's manuscript). The Grove Press trade hardcover of 1982 follows, identified by a number line including 1 and a priced dust jacket. True first is the Bruccoli Clark Publishers signed/numbered limited edition (1981); the Grove Press trade edition of 1982 is the first trade appearance and follows it. None notable.
• Gerald's Party — 1986 · Linden Press / Simon & SchusterFirst printing issued in publisher's cloth in a pictorial dust jacket that should retain its printed cover price. The first printing is identified by a complete number line ending in 1 on the copyright page together with the stated "First Edition," ISBN 0671606557. True first is the 1986 Linden Press / Simon & Schuster edition (ISBN 0671606557). A William Heinemann UK edition also appeared in this period; sources differ on its exact year, but the US Linden Press printing is generally treated as the first. None notable; the stated "First Edition" with a number line ending in 1 distinguishes the first printing.
• A Night at the Movies, or, You Must Remember This — 1987 · Linden Press / Simon & SchusterFirst printing identified by a full number line including 1 and a priced dust jacket. Story collection issued in publisher's cloth (red cloth, half bound in light blue paper, gilt spine lettering). True first is the 1987 Linden Press / Simon & Schuster edition (ISBN 0671617966). None notable.
• Whatever Happened to Gloomy Gus of the Chicago Bears? — 1987 · Linden Press / Simon & SchusterFirst printing identified by a full number line including 1 and a priced dust jacket. Short novel issued in publisher's cloth. An uncorrected proof exists and precedes the published book. True first in book form is the 1987 Linden Press / Simon & Schuster edition (ISBN 0671638130), a revised version of the story first published in American Review in 1975. None notable.
• Pinocchio in Venice — 1991 · Linden Press / Simon & SchusterFirst printing of the 1991 Linden Press / Simon & Schuster edition (ISBN 0671644718, 330 pp), identified by a full number line including 1 and a priced dust jacket with the price present on the front flap. Issued in publisher's boards with a blue cloth spine over blue paper-covered boards. True first is the 1991 Linden Press / Simon & Schuster edition (ISBN 0671644718). None notable.
• Briar Rose — 1996 · Grove PressFirst edition, first printing identified by a complete number line ending in 1. Hardcover in red paper-covered boards with black spine lettering, octavo, 86 pages, in a priced dust jacket. A novella retelling Sleeping Beauty. True first is the 1996 Grove Press hardcover (New York). A later Grove paperback edition exists and should not be confused with the first. None notable.
• John's Wife — 1996 · Simon & SchusterFirst printing of the 1996 Simon & Schuster edition (ISBN 0684818418, 428 pp), identified by a full number line including 1 on the copyright page and a priced dust jacket with the price present on the front flap. Bound in quarter red cloth spine over cream paper-covered boards with gilt spine lettering; the cream first-issue jacket carries black lettering to front and spine, with jacket design by Carin Goldberg. True first is the 1996 Simon & Schuster edition. None notable.
• Ghost Town — 1998 · Henry HoltFirst edition, first printing identified by a complete number line ending in 1 on the copyright page. Issued as cloth-backed boards (maroon paper-covered boards with a black paper spine, spine titling stamped in gilt) in a priced dust jacket designed by Robert Horansky; 147 pages. The title page and jacket carry the subtitle 'A Novel'. True first is the 1998 Henry Holt and Co. hardcover (New York), 'Ghost Town: A Novel'. None notable.
• The Adventures of Lucky Pierre: Director's Cut — 2002 · Grove PressFirst edition, first printing is the 2002 Grove Press hardcover (New York, ISBN 0-8021-1724-4; 9780802117243), 416 pages, identified by a stated first edition with the complete number line descending to 1 on the copyright page. Cloth-backed boards in a priced pictorial dust jacket; the jacket should retain its printed price and be present. Note that the book's own title page and jacket render the subtitle…. True first is the 2002 Grove Press hardcover (New York), stated first edition with number line to 1. The later Grove Press trade paperback (ISBN 0-8021-4041-6) is not the first. None notable. The tell against a later state is the stated first edition with a complete number line ending in 1 in the 2002 hardcover, as opposed to the subsequent Grove paperback.
• The Grand Hotels (of Joseph Cornell) — 2002 · Burning DeckIssued by Burning Deck in 2002 in three simultaneous states from a total edition of 1250: a paperback in wraps, an unsigned cloth hardcover, and a signed cloth hardcover limited to 50 copies. The hardcover states, not the wraps, represent the higher first-edition issue. A slim volume of poetic prose vignettes derived from Joseph Cornell's assemblages. True first is the 2002 Burning Deck edition. The original record described only the paperback wraps; in fact cloth hardcover states (including a signed issue of 50) were published the same year and are the senior issue. Five of the texts appeared earlier in the anthology A Convergence of Birds (D.A.P., 2001), so that anthology holds the first appearance of those pieces. None notable.
• Stepmother — 2004 · McSweeney'sFirst McSweeney's edition (2004), illustrated by Michael Kupperman. Bound in soft cloth with metallic stamping and issued without a dust jacket; 90 pages. A novella. Identification rests on the McSweeney's binding and design rather than a number line, as these titles are typically single-printing objects. True first is the 2004 McSweeney's Books edition (San Francisco). None notable.
• A Child Again — 2005 · McSweeney'sFirst McSweeney's edition (2005), a story collection. As issued, the rear board carries a pocket holding fifteen playing cards printing the story 'Heart Suit' (thirteen middle cards readable in any order), wrapped with an unbroken paper band, no dust jacket. The card deck is present in all first-edition copies, not just some; a complete deck and intact band are integral to the book as issued. True first is the 2005 McSweeney's Books edition (San Francisco). None notable.
• Noir — 2010 · Overlook PressFirst U.S. trade hardcover from Overlook Press with full number line ending in 1 on the copyright page and a price present on the dust jacket flap. The novel, narrated in the second person, was a simultaneous trade release; the U.K. edition appeared from Duckworth/Overlook around the same time, but the Overlook printing is the standard true first for U.S. collectors. True first edition is the 2010 Overlook Press hardcover. No notable book-club edition.
• The Brunist Day of Wrath — 2014 · Dzanc BooksFirst Dzanc Books printing, a very large (roughly eleven-hundred-page) hardcover, with the number line present and a price on the dust jacket. Sequel to The Origin of the Brunists. True first edition is the 2014 Dzanc Books hardcover; a paperback followed in 2017. No notable book-club edition.
• Huck Out West — 2017 · W.W. NortonFirst W. W. Norton hardcover (January 2017) with full number line ending in 1 on the copyright page and a price present on the dust jacket flap. A sequel/riff on Twain's Huckleberry Finn. True first edition is the 2017 W.W. Norton hardcover. No notable book-club edition.
• Going for a Beer: Selected Short Fictions — 2018 · W.W. NortonFirst W. W. Norton hardcover (February 2018) with full number line ending in 1 on the copyright page and a price on the dust jacket. A career-spanning selection of thirty stories with an introduction by T. C. Boyle. True first edition is the 2018 W.W. Norton hardcover. No notable book-club edition.
• Street Cop — 2021 · IsolariiFirst Isolarii edition, a deliberately tiny pocket-format softcover (roughly seven by the printed priceimeters), illustrated throughout by Art Spiegelman. As a small-press subscription-style art object it does not carry a conventional publisher number line, so identification rests on the Isolarii imprint, the 2021 date, the Spiegelman illustrations, and the matching ISBN rather than on a number line. True first edition is the 2021 Isolarii printing. No book-club edition.
• Open House — 2023 · OR BooksFirst edition is the 2023 paperback from OR Books under its Evergreen Review Books imprint. As an OR Books trade paperback it carries the OR Books/Evergreen imprint and the matching ISBN rather than a conventional number line. The work is a single short metafiction set in a Manhattan penthouse, not a story collection. True first edition is the 2023 OR Books / Evergreen Review Books paperback. No book-club edition.

More Literary Fiction (US) & Award Winners shelves: Robert E. Howard, Robert Frost, Robert Graves, Robert Louis Stevenson, Robert Lowell, Robert Ludlum.

← All authors · All genres · part of the First-Edition Identification resource.