Is My Doctor Martino and Other Stories a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Harrison Smith and Robert Haas, New York, 1934, issued in two forms
• TRADE ISSUE: 8vo (approx
• 19.5cm), 371 pp; original dark blue/indigo cloth, spine and front board lettered in gilt, top edge stained yellow; in the pictorial dust jacket designed by Arthur Hawkins — a priced jacket with the price present at the front flap is the wanted state
• The first printing carries no edition or printing statement on the copyright page and the copyright-page date matches the 1934 title-page date; later printings are noted on the copyright page, so identification is by absence
• SIGNED LIMITED ISSUE: 360 copies signed by Faulkner and numbered, printed on W. and A. all-rag paper, bound in black cloth over burgundy cloth
• Fourteen stories, of which "Black Music" and "Leg" appear here for the first time

How Harrison Smith & Robert Haas marked a first edition

• 1932–1936: The firm did NOT consistently use a first-edition statement. First printings are identified primarily by the absence of any subsequent-printing notice on the copyright page (later printings were noted). Some t…

Full Harrison Smith & Robert Haas 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 US 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?

Census claim CONFIRMED: the US Harrison Smith & Robert Haas, New York, 1934 (Massey 438; Petersen A16.1) is the true first, in trade and 360-copy signed issues. Chatto & Windus, London, 1934 (Massey 439; Petersen A16.2) followed in the same year and is the first English edition — separately collected and genuinely scarce: crown 8vo (189 x 118mm), [8]371,[5] pp, publisher's scarlet cloth, spine lettered in gold, top edge stained scarlet, in a beige typographic jacket printed in scarlet, priced at the flap; only 1,500 copies were printed, the smallest run of any Faulkner first English edition (matching As I Lay Dying and These 13). CAUTION: both editions are dated 1934, so the year alone will not separate them — go by publisher imprint and cloth colour (dark blue = US first; scarlet = UK first English). Precedence rests on the bibliographic ordering (Massey 438 before 439; Petersen A16.1 before A16.2) and on consistent ABAA/ILAB dealer practice of describing only the Smith & Haas issue as the first edition and the Chatto as the first British edition; the exact US and UK publication months are not established in the sources consulted, though a New York Sun review of 16 April 1934 places US publication by mid-April.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue is documented in the sources consulted. The reprint tell for the US issue is the copyright page: later Smith & Haas printings are stated there, whereas the first printing carries no statement at all.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Doctor Martino and Other Stories a first edition?

A first edition of Doctor Martino and Other Stories by William Faulkner (Harrison Smith & Robert Haas) is identified by: Harrison Smith and Robert Haas, New York, 1934, issued in two forms.

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. Census claim CONFIRMED: the US Harrison Smith & Robert Haas, New York, 1934 (Massey 438; Petersen A16.1) is the true first, in trade and 360-copy signed issues.

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

No book-club issue is documented in the sources consulted. The reprint tell for the US issue is the copyright page: later Smith & Haas printings are stated there, whereas the first printing carries no statement at all.

I have a first edition of Doctor Martino and Other Stories — 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.