3 William Gass first editions are documented on this shelf, from Omensetter's Luck (1966) to The Tunnel (1995) across 3 different publishers. Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that William Gass 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 William Gass copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.
- Omensetter's Luck — 1966 · New American LibraryGass's debut novel, New American Library, 1966. Half black cloth over blue boards; jacket carries blurbs by Susan Sontag and Walker Percy and is priced 5.95 on the front flap. First printing identified by the absence of any later-printing line on the copyright page. A small printing was made. The US New American Library printing (1966) is the true first. Although an early draft was notoriously stolen and adapted as a play, no commercially published version predates the NAL trade first. Later printings add a printing record; a book-club copy would show 'Book Club Edition' and lack the flap price. Confirm the NAL imprint and a clean first-printing copyright page.
- In the Heart of the Heart of the Country — 1968 · Harper & RowHarper & Row, 1968. Yellow cloth with the publisher's device stamped in red on the front board, spine lettered in red and purple, yellow top-stain; orange endpapers. First-issue dust jacket priced 4.95 on the front flap. First printing shows no later-printing notation (Ahearn APG 002). Gass's second book and first story collection. The US Harper & Row printing is the true first. The expanded 1981 Godine edition is a 'first thus,' not the true first. First printings carry no later-printing line; later printings or a book-club state alter or omit the first-printing indications. Treat the 1981 enlarged Godine edition separately as a 'first thus.'.
- The Tunnel — 1995 · Alfred A. KnopfKnopf trade first states First Edition on the copyright page; first-issue jacket is unclipped at the printed price (red and black design). The novel was roughly twenty-six years in the writing. A separate signed limited issue also exists as a parallel premium state. The US Knopf trade first is the true first; the signed limited edition is a parallel premium state, not a precedence point. Trade first carries the First Edition statement and the original priced jacket; book-club copies lack the price and typically show a blind-stamp or gutter code on the rear board.
More Literary Fiction (US) & Award Winners shelves: William Gibson, William Gilmore Simms, William Harrison Ainsworth, William Kennedy, William Makepeace Thackeray, William Styron.
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