4 Stanley Elkin first editions are documented on this shelf, from Boswell: A Modern Comedy (1964) to The Living End (1979) across 2 different publishers. Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that Stanley Elkin 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 Stanley Elkin copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.
- Boswell: A Modern Comedy — 1964 · Random HouseRandom House first printing states First Edition / First Printing on the copyright page in the pre-1970 Random House manner (no number line yet on titles of this era); first-issue jacket with the original price on the front flap. Elkin's first book and first novel. The US Random House edition is the true first; the UK edition (Blond, 1966) follows. The stated first printing is present on the true first; book-club copies omit the flap price and usually carry a Book Club Edition notice and a rear-board blind-stamp.
- A Bad Man — 1967 · Random HouseRandom House first printing states First Edition / First Printing on the copyright page (pre-1970 Random House style, no number line on this title); first-issue jacket with the original price on the front flap. The US Random House edition is the true first. The stated first printing is present on the true first; club editions lack the flap price and carry a Book Club Edition notice.
- The Dick Gibson Show — 1971 · Random HouseRandom House first printing states First Edition on the copyright page AND carries a number line whose lowest digit is 2 (for example 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9), per the Random House convention used from 1970 to about 2002; first-issue jacket with the original price. Orange paper-covered boards with a radio-head figure on the front board. The US Random House edition is the true first; one of Elkin's most collected titles. Later printings drop the First Edition statement. Book-club copies omit the flap price and carry a Book Club Edition notice with a gutter/blind-stamp code.
- The Living End — 1979 · E. P. DuttonDutton first printing carries a full number line including the 1; issued as A Henry Robbins Book; first-issue jacket with the original price on the front flap. A short novella in three sections (a triptych) that first appeared in American Review, Antaeus, and TriQuarterly. The US Dutton edition is the true first. First printing shows the complete number line down to 1; book-club copies lack the flap price and carry a Book Club Edition notice.
More Literary Fiction (US) & Award Winners shelves: Stephen Baxter, Stephen Bury (Neal Stephenson and J. Frederick George), Stephen Crane, Steven Millhauser, Susan Sontag, T. H. White.
← All authors · All genres · part of the First-Edition Identification resource.