Is My Commerce of the Prairies a First Edition?

The points of issue

• New York: Henry G. Langley, 1844, two 12mo volumes (roughly xvi, [17]-320 and viii, [9]-318 pages), illustrated with two steel-engraved frontispieces, four wood-engraved plates, and two engraved maps, including Gregg's own large folding map of the Indian Territory, northern Texas, and New Mexico
• The true first issue carries "New York" alone in the Langley imprint on the volume-one title page; a second issue of the same year adds a London co-imprint alongside Langley's on that same title page
• First-issue sets were bound in the publisher's brown pictorial cloth, stamped in gilt and blind
• Gregg's memoir of the Santa Fe trade proved popular enough that a revised "second edition," credited to J. & H.G. Langley rather than Henry G. Langley alone, followed within a year, so the 1844 date alone does not establish first-issue status -- the imprint wording and publisher's name must both be checked

How to confirm the first-printing statement

Publishers stated first printings differently by era. The decisive tells are a printed “First Edition/First Printing” statement, a number line whose lowest number is 1 (Random House ends at 2), or a dated first printing with no later printings listed. Paste your copyright page into the number-line decoder.

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

The heavily annotated Max Moorhead scholarly edition (University of Oklahoma Press, 1954) and other 20th-century reprints are not the first edition; also watch for Langley's own 1845 "second edition" (J. & H.G. Langley), identifiable by the altered publisher's imprint, which is not the 1844 first.P-035259

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Commerce of the Prairies a first edition?

A first edition of Commerce of the Prairies by Josiah Gregg (Henry G. Langley) is identified by: Langley, 1844, two 12mo volumes (roughly xvi, [17]-320 and viii, [9]-318 pages), illustrated with two steel-engraved frontispieces, four wood-engraved plates, and two engraved maps, including Gregg's own large folding map of the Indian Territory, northern Texas, and New Mexico.

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.

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

The heavily annotated Max Moorhead scholarly edition (University of Oklahoma Press, 1954) and other 20th-century reprints are not the first edition; also watch for Langley's own 1845 "second edition" (J. & H.G. Langley), identifiable by the altered publisher's imprint, which is not the 1844 first.

I have a first edition of Commerce of the Prairies — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap — an unclipped, priced jacket matters. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and use the free First Edition Checker to decode the printing. To sell, the author’s collecting guide covers the market. And if you are clearing books in the Albuquerque area, the New Mexico Literacy Project offers free pickup, any condition, and makes sure collectible copies are identified rather than discarded.

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.