Is My Copy of Color a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First edition, first printing is identified on the copyright page by BOTH the "First Edition" statement and the Harper & Brothers date code "H-Z"
• Harper's code (used on the copyright page from 1912 to 1968) is two letters: the first is the month of printing (A=January, B=February, C=March, D=April, E=May, F=June, G=July, H=August, I=September, K=October, L=November, M=December — the letter J is skipped), the second is the year, with Z = 1925
• So H-Z = August 1925
• Because the code records the date of that particular printing, any later Harper impression carries a different letter pair — the code is therefore the decisive tell and cannot be faked by a matching title-page date
• Octavo, 108 pp., 73 poems including "Yet Do I Marvel," "Heritage," and "Incident." Publisher's binding: quarter/half yellow cloth over patterned paper-covered boards, with printed paper labels affixed to the spine and to the front board, black lettering to the label; deckle edges
• The dust jacket is present on very few surviving copies and is rarely found; the vast majority of firsts on the market are jacketless, so jacket absence is not evidence against a first

How Harper & Brothers, New York and London marked a first edition

• 1912-1949: month/year letter code on copyright page. Month: A=Jan, B=Feb, C=Mar, D=Apr, E=May, F=Jun, G=Jul, H=Aug, I=Sep, K=Oct, L=Nov, M=Dec (J skipped).
• From 1922: also began printing 'First Edition' on the copyright page in addition to the code.

Full Harper & Brothers, New York and London first-edition guide →

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Confirm the first-edition statement — look for “First Edition,” “First Printing,” or the publisher’s equivalent wording.
3. Check for a number line or dated printing — the lowest number present is the printing; a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the tell.
4. Verify this is the British true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
5. Rule out a book-club edition — a blind-stamp on the rear board or a jacket with no printed price marks a book-club copy.
6. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

The dust jacket

For a collectible first edition the dust jacket matters as much as the book. Confirm the jacket is present and unclipped — the printed price should still be at the corner of the flap (a clipped corner or a price-less flap can indicate a book-club issue). First-state jackets can differ from later ones in the cover art, blurbs, or review quotations; where a specific first-state jacket point is known for this title it is noted above.

Binding & format

Where multiple bindings exist, the hardcover trade issue is usually (but not always) the precedence copy — confirm against the points above. Later printings often show cheaper cloth, thinner boards, or simplified spine stamping. A simultaneous signed or limited issue, when one exists, is a distinct state from the trade first.

Is this the true first?

The title page imprint reads "New York and London," which regularly misleads cataloguers into positing a separate British first. It is a joint Harper imprint on an American production — Harper & Brothers, 1925, is the true and only first edition, and no separate British first edition of Color is recorded. There is no original-language precedence question.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue of the 1925 Harper edition is documented in any source consulted. Later Harper printings are identified by a different month-year code letter pair on the copyright page (and the "First Edition" statement should be absent); still later reprints appear under the Harper & Row imprint and under other publishers, all of which are later editions rather than club copies.P-038431

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Color a first edition?

A first edition of Color by Countee Cullen (Harper & Brothers, New York and London) is identified by: First edition, first printing is identified on the copyright page by BOTH the "First Edition" statement and the Harper & Brothers date code "H-Z".

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A stated first edition, a number line ending in 1, or a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the key. The title page imprint reads "New York and London," which regularly misleads cataloguers into positing a separate British first.

Is the book-club edition the same as the first?

No book-club issue of the 1925 Harper edition is documented in any source consulted. Later Harper printings are identified by a different month-year code letter pair on the copyright page (and the "First Edition" statement should be absent); still later reprints appear under the Harper & Row imprint and under other publishers, all of which are later editions rather than club copies.

I have a first edition of Color — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and decode the printing with the free First Edition Checker. Clearing out books? I take them as a free donation and make sure collectible copies are identified, not discarded: free pickup in the Albuquerque metro (scheduled by route), the 24/7 drop box at 5445 Edith Blvd NE, or donor-paid mail-in from anywhere in the US. Questions? Call or text 505-250-3804.

Glossary

First edition

Every copy printed from the first setting of type. Collectors usually want the first edition, first printing (the true first).

First printing / impression

A single press run from that setting. The first printing is the earliest and most desirable; later printings are still the first edition but not the true first.

Number line (printer's key)

A row of numbers on the copyright page (e.g. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1). The lowest number present is the printing — a line including 1 marks a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2).

Points of issue

Specific physical details — a stated edition, a number line, a typo, a jacket state — that identify the true first printing.

Book-club edition (BCE)

A reprint made for a book club. Tells include a blind-stamped dot or square on the rear board and a dust jacket with no printed price. Not the true first.

First thus

The first appearance of a particular version (first paperback, first illustrated, first U.S. printing) — a first of that kind, not the first edition of the work.