# Is "City of Night" by John Rechy a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of City of Night by John Rechy (Grove Press, 1963) is identified by: True first is New York: Grove Press, 1963, Rechy's first novel; 410 pages, bound in black cloth lettered in silver at the spine with a black top-stain. US Grove Press (New York) 1963 is the true first; the UK MacGibbon & Kee edition followed in 1964.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- True first is New York: Grove Press, 1963, Rechy's first novel
- 410 pages, bound in black cloth lettered in silver at the spine with a black top-stain
- Grove Press firsts carry a 'First Printing' statement on the copyright page (later printings are noted there, and later-printing jackets bear a small letter code — e.g. 'ii' — on the rear panel)
- Two dust-jacket states are documented for the first printing: the first state is identified by the rear-panel author photograph (credited to Tony Canales) with a blurb-wording point reported ('groping' in the earliest jacket copy), alongside a recorded second-state jacket
- Priced jacket, price present at the front flap
- Publisher imprint reads Grove Press
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | John Rechy |
| Publisher | Grove Press |
| Year | 1963 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | True first is New York: Grove Press, 1963, Rechy's first novel |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
True first is New York: Grove Press, 1963, Rechy's first novel; 410 pages, bound in black cloth lettered in silver at the spine with a black top-stain. Grove Press firsts carry a 'First Printing' statement on the copyright page (later printings are noted there, and later-printing jackets bear a small letter code — e.g. 'ii' — on the rear panel). Two dust-jacket states are documented for the first printing: the first state is identified by the rear-panel author photograph (credited to Tony Canales) with a blurb-wording point reported ('groping' in the earliest jacket copy), alongside a recorded second-state jacket. Priced jacket, price present at the front flap.

## Is this the true first?
US Grove Press (New York) 1963 is the true first; the UK MacGibbon & Kee edition followed in 1964. Census precedence is correct.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later Grove printings are stated on the copyright page and can be identified by the small letter code on the jacket's rear panel; the 1963 Grove trade issue is the first. No true book-club first of note.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *City of Night* by John Rechy a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/city-of-night
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.