# Is "Behind the Flying Saucers" by Frank Scully a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Behind the Flying Saucers by Frank Scully (Henry Holt, 1950) is identified by: First edition, first printing, Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1950, of Frank Scully's foundational Aztec, New Mexico saucer-crash text. The Henry Holt 1950 New York edition is the US first and the true first of the text.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, first printing, Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1950, of Frank Scully's foundational Aztec, New Mexico saucer-crash text
- Bound in powder-blue cloth stamped in blue on the front board and spine, octavo, with xviii and 230 pages
- Issued in the original pictorial dust jacket; a first-state jacket carries the publisher's printed price at the lower corner of the front flap, so an unclipped example shows that price intact (later owners often clipped it)
- The book is scarce in a clean, unfaded jacket, as the backstrip is prone to sunning
- Publisher imprint reads Henry Holt
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Frank Scully |
| Publisher | Henry Holt |
| Year | 1950 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, first printing, Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1950, of Frank Scully's foundational Aztec, New Mexico saucer-crash text |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
First edition, first printing, Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1950, of Frank Scully's foundational Aztec, New Mexico saucer-crash text. Bound in powder-blue cloth stamped in blue on the front board and spine, octavo, with xviii and 230 pages. Issued in the original pictorial dust jacket; a first-state jacket carries the publisher's printed price at the lower corner of the front flap, so an unclipped example shows that price intact (later owners often clipped it). The book is scarce in a clean, unfaded jacket, as the backstrip is prone to sunning.

## Is this the true first?
The Henry Holt 1950 New York edition is the US first and the true first of the text.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Book-club editions and later printings reprint the text but are not the first edition and are far less collectible. Use the points above to be certain — see book-club edition vs. first edition.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Behind the Flying Saucers* by Frank Scully a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/behind-the-flying-saucers
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.