7 Thomas Wolfe first editions are documented on this shelf, from Look Homeward, Angel (1929) to The Hills Beyond (1941) across 2 different publishers. Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that Thomas Wolfe 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 Thomas Wolfe copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.
- Look Homeward, Angel — 1929 · Charles Scribner's Sons, New YorkWolfe's first book. First printing carries the Scribner's seal (the publisher's printer's mark) on the copyright page with no notice of later printings; the title page is dated 1929. Bound in dark blue cloth. The dedication to Aline Bernstein ('A.B.') is present. First-issue dust jacket carries the printed price and the Doris Ulmann photograph of Wolfe with biography on the rear panel. True US first; precedes the UK Heinemann edition of 1930. The Scribner seal on the copyright page is the definitive first-printing mark for 1929. No book club for the true first. The 2000 'O Lost' restored-text edition is a separate publication, not a first of this book.
- From Death to Morning — 1935 · Charles Scribner's Sons, New YorkFirst printing has the 'A' together with the Scribner seal on the copyright page. Story collection bound in brown cloth lettered in gilt with a brown top stain. First-issue dust jacket carries the printed price. True US first; precedes the UK Heinemann edition of 1936. No book club for the true first; later printings drop the 'A.'.
- Of Time and the River — 1935 · Charles Scribner's Sons, New YorkFirst printing has the 'A' together with the Scribner seal on the copyright page. Bound in black cloth lettered in gilt with green rules on the front board and spine. First-issue dust jacket carries the printed price and the Ossip Garber (Garber/Garbo studio) photograph of Wolfe on the rear panel. A signed limited issue of this title also exists. True US first; precedes the UK Heinemann edition of 1935. No book club for the true first; later printings drop the 'A.'.
- The Story of a Novel — 1936 · Charles Scribner's Sons, New YorkFirst printing has the 'A' together with the Scribner seal on the copyright page. A thin volume (the revised text of Wolfe's Boulder writers'-conference lecture), bound in reddish/orange cloth with titling in gilt on black panels. First-issue dust jacket carries the printed price. True US first. No book club for the true first; later printings drop the 'A.'.
- The Web and the Rock — 1939 · Harper & Brothers, New YorkFirst printing has the words First Edition printed on the copyright page together with the Harper month-year letter code E-O (E equals May, O equals the year 1939). Navy blue cloth, gilt and red title block on spine and front panel; first-issue dust jacket carries the printed price. First of Wolfe's two posthumous novels. True US first; precedes the UK Heinemann edition (1947). The copyright-page code E-O plus the First Edition statement identifies the first printing. No book club issue for the first. Later Harper printings carry a different month-year code letter pair and drop the First Edition statement.
- You Can't Go Home Again — 1940 · Harper & Brothers, New YorkFirst printing has the words First Edition on the copyright page together with the Harper month-year letter code H-P (H equals August, P equals the year 1940). Posthumous novel; first-issue dust jacket carries the printed price. True US first; precedes the UK Heinemann edition (1947). The H-P code plus the First Edition statement is the first-printing identifier. No book club issue for the first. Later printings carry a different code-letter pair on the copyright page and lack the First Edition statement.
- The Hills Beyond — 1941 · Harper & Brothers, New YorkFirst printing has the words First Edition on the copyright page together with the Harper month-year letter code H-Q (H equals August, Q equals the year 1941). First state has lines 5 and 6 from the foot of page 220 transposed. Dark blue cloth, gilt lettering on front board and spine; posthumous collection with a note on Wolfe by Edward C. Aswell. True US first. The H-Q code, the First Edition statement, and the transposed lines on page 220 mark the first printing, first state. No book club issue for the first. Later printings carry a different code-letter pair and correct the page 220 transposition.
More Literary Fiction (US) & Award Winners shelves: Thornton Wilder, Tim O'Brien, Tobias Wolff, Tom Clancy, Toni Morrison, Truman Capote.
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