# Is "Before Breakfast" by Eugene O'Neill a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Before Breakfast by Eugene O'Neill (Frank Shay, 1916) is identified by: New York: Frank Shay, 1916. This Frank Shay pamphlet is the true first separate edition of Before Breakfast; scarce in the original wrappers.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- New York: Frank Shay, 1916
- A slim pamphlet of roughly nineteen pages in printed self-wrappers, stapled, this one-act play (subtitled 'A Play in One Act') issued separately
- The Provincetown Players staged it at their MacDougal Street theatre in Greenwich Village in December 1916, the year of this separate printing
- Publisher imprint reads Frank Shay
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Eugene O'Neill |
| Publisher | Frank Shay |
| Year | 1916 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | New York: Frank Shay, 1916 |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
New York: Frank Shay, 1916. A slim pamphlet of roughly nineteen pages in printed self-wrappers, stapled, this one-act play (subtitled 'A Play in One Act') issued separately. The Provincetown Players staged it at their MacDougal Street theatre in Greenwich Village in December 1916, the year of this separate printing.

## Is this the true first?
This Frank Shay pamphlet is the true first separate edition of Before Breakfast; scarce in the original wrappers. O'Neill's earlier book Thirst and Other One-Act Plays (Gorham Press, 1914) is a different, unrelated collection and does not precede this title.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book club edition.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Before Breakfast* by Eugene O'Neill a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/before-breakfast
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-03.