6 Shelby Foote first editions are documented on this shelf, from Tournament (1949) to September September (1978) across 3 different publishers. Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that Shelby Foote 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 Shelby Foote copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.
- Tournament — 1949 · The Dial PressDial Press first printing with no statement of a later printing on the copyright page (Copyright 1949, Dial Press, New York). Grey cloth, octavo, 242 pages. First-issue dust jacket carries the publisher's price on the front flap. Foote's first novel; characters who recur in his later fiction appear here first. US first (The Dial Press) is the true first. Later editions, including the 1987 reissue, are reset; UK appearances follow the American first. No significant book club issue noted; later reprints carry printing or reset-text notations.
- Follow Me Down — 1950 · The Dial PressFirst edition, first printing in red cloth lettered in blue on the spine. The copyright page lists no additional printings; later printings are noted on the copyright page. First-issue dust jacket carries the price on the front flap (price-clipped or unpriced jackets are later or compromised states). US Dial Press is the true first; the UK edition (Hamish Hamilton) follows in the same period. Later printings are identified by printing notations on the copyright page.
- Love in a Dry Season — 1951 · The Dial PressFirst edition, first printing in original cloth (octavo). The copyright page carries no later-printing notation; subsequent printings are so noted. First-issue dust jacket is priced on the front flap. US Dial Press is the true first; the UK edition (Hamish Hamilton) follows. Later printings are identified by printing notations on the copyright page.
- Jordan County: A Landscape in Narrative — 1954 · The Dial PressFirst edition, first printing. The copyright page bears no later-printing notation; later printings are so noted. A linked sequence of seven narratives set in fictional Jordan County, Mississippi. First-issue dust jacket is priced on the front flap. US Dial Press is the true first; any UK or later edition follows. Later printings are identified by printing notations on the copyright page.
- The Civil War: A Narrative (Vol. 1, Fort Sumter to Perryville) — 1958 · Random HouseFirst printing states 'FIRST PRINTING' on the copyright page (removed on later printings), per Random House practice of the period. Volume I is in publisher's cloth with the spine tan and gray, lettered in red and black, top edge stained, and cartographic endpapers; the 141 maps were drawn by George Annand. The first-state dust jacket is priced (price present at the flap) and carries the code '11/58' at the flap;…. US-only true first: Random House, New York — Vol. 1 (Fort Sumter to Perryville) 1958, Vol. 2 (Fredericksburg to Meridian) 1963, Vol. 3 (Red River to Appomattox) 1974. No UK precedence issue; the collectible object is the matched trilogy in first printings, each with its own dated first-state priced jacket. Distinguish the 1958 first printing (states 'FIRST PRINTING') from later Random House printings that keep the 1958 date but drop the statement, and from the ubiquitous Vintage Civil War Library paperbacks. Signed later-printing copies exist and are not first printings.
- September September — 1978 · Random HouseFirst printing has 'First Edition' stated on the copyright page together with a Random House number line beginning with 2 (for example, 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9). Per Random House convention of this era the line does NOT contain a 1; a copy whose lowest number is 1 is not how the first issue is identified. First-issue dust jacket is unclipped. Foote's return to fiction. US Random House is the true first; any UK edition follows. Book-club editions lack the 'First Edition' statement and the number line, have no price on the jacket flap, and are typically smaller with a blind-stamp dot/depression on the rear board.
More Literary Fiction (US) & Award Winners shelves: Sherman Alexie, Siegfried Sassoon, Sinclair Lewis, Stanley Elkin, Stephen Baxter, Stephen Bury (Neal Stephenson and J. Frederick George).
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