# Is "Confusion" by James Gould Cozzens a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Confusion by James Gould Cozzens (B. J. Brimmer Company, 1924) is identified by: First edition, his scarce debut novel, written while a Harvard undergraduate. US first edition published in Boston by the B.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, his scarce debut novel, written while a Harvard undergraduate
- Issued in publisher's green cloth with the top edge stained red; no later-printing statement
- Publisher imprint reads B. J. Brimmer Company
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | James Gould Cozzens |
| Publisher | B. J. Brimmer Company |
| Year | 1924 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, his scarce debut novel, written while a Harvard undergraduate |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First edition, his scarce debut novel, written while a Harvard undergraduate. Issued in publisher's green cloth with the top edge stained red; no later-printing statement.

## Is this the true first?
US first edition published in Boston by the B. J. Brimmer Company in 1924 (the short-lived house associated with William Stanley Braithwaite). No UK edition of note. Genuinely scarce.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book club edition and no contemporary reprints of note.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Confusion* by James Gould Cozzens a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/confusion
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.