# Is "Cotton Comes to Harlem" by Chester Himes a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Cotton Comes to Harlem by Chester Himes (G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1965) is identified by: Putnam's Sons first edition (1965): stated first edition with first-issue jacket carrying the printed price. For this title the French edition 'Retour en Afrique' (Plon, 1964) precedes the English-language first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- US G.P. Putnam's Sons first edition
- : stated first edition with first-issue jacket carrying the printed price
- A French-language edition, 'Retour en Afrique' (Paris: Plon, 1964), preceded the English-language text by about a year
- The Putnam edition is the first English-language edition and the first hardbound edition
- Publisher imprint reads G.P. Putnam's Sons
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Chester Himes |
| Publisher | G.P. Putnam's Sons |
| Year | 1965 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | US G.P. Putnam's Sons first edition |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
US G.P. Putnam's Sons first edition (1965): stated first edition with first-issue jacket carrying the printed price. A French-language edition, 'Retour en Afrique' (Paris: Plon, 1964), preceded the English-language text by about a year. The Putnam edition is the first English-language edition and the first hardbound edition.

## Is this the true first?
For this title the French edition 'Retour en Afrique' (Plon, 1964) precedes the English-language first. The US Putnam edition (1965) is the first English-language edition and the first hardcover. Several other Himes Harlem novels likewise appeared first in French, so precedence should be verified per title.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Book-club editions exist; a film tie-in reprint followed the 1970 film and postdates the first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Cotton Comes to Harlem* by Chester Himes a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/cotton-comes-to-harlem
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.