Is My Down the Santa Fe Trail and Into Mexico a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Yale University Press, New Haven, 1926, edited and annotated by Stella M. Drumm — the best-documented title in this batch, corroborated by four ABAA-member dealer descriptions (William Reese Company, Lorne Bair Rare Books, Old West Books, and ABAA's own listing database) plus Buckingham Books
• No edition statement is printed in the book: dealers describe it as "not stated, presumed first," and the 1926 Yale issue is identified by the title-page imprint and date
• Octavo (24 cm), collating [xxvi], 294 pp, bound in black cloth stamped in gilt
• Contains a frontispiece, six plates, appendix, bibliography and index, and — the point most often lacking and the one to check first — a FOLDING MAP; confirm the folding map is present and intact, as its absence is the commonest defect
• Recorded in the standard Western Americana bibliographies: Howes M-211, Rittenhouse 392, Rader 2331, Eberstadt Modern Overland 318
• Copies are occasionally found in the original dust jacket, which is scarce

How Yale University Press marked a first edition

• Older/standard convention: the copyright page of a REPRINT states the date of first publication and lists subsequent printings/editions; a copy whose copyright page carries only the copyright line (no reprint or later-pr…
• Revised editions always state the date of the original edition plus the revision — so any 'Second edition'/'Revised edition'/'Reprinted' language rules out a first printing of the first edition.

Full Yale University Press 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?

The diary was kept in 1846-47 but remained unpublished until Drumm, a librarian at the Missouri Historical Society, located it in the 1920s and persuaded Magoffin's daughter to release it. Yale University Press, New Haven, 1926 is therefore the FIRST PUBLICATION and the only edition with first-edition standing — the census claim is correct. US-only; no UK issue and no original-language question. Contemporary corroboration: the edition was reviewed in the Hispanic American Historical Review vol. 8 (1928).

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition documented. The "first thus" traps are all later reissues that add editorial matter: the Yale Western Americana Paperbound reissue (series number Yw-3) with a new introduction by Howard R. Lamar; the Bison Books / University of Nebraska Press paperback (ISBN 9780803281161); and the Yale reissue of 2003 (ISBN 9780300094671). Any ISBN, any series designation, wrappers, or the presence of the Lamar introduction identifies a later book rather than the 1926 first.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Down the Santa Fe Trail and Into Mexico a first edition?

A first edition of Down the Santa Fe Trail and Into Mexico by Susan Shelby Magoffin (edited by Stella M. Drumm) (Yale University Press) is identified by: Yale University Press, New Haven, 1926, edited and annotated by Stella M.

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 diary was kept in 1846-47 but remained unpublished until Drumm, a librarian at the Missouri Historical Society, located it in the 1920s and persuaded Magoffin's daughter to release it.

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

No book-club edition documented. The "first thus" traps are all later reissues that add editorial matter: the Yale Western Americana Paperbound reissue (series number Yw-3) with a new introduction by Howard R. Lamar; the Bison Books / University of Nebraska Press paperback (ISBN 9780803281161); and the Yale reissue of 2003 (ISBN 9780300094671). Any ISBN, any series designation, wrappers, or the presence of the Lamar introduction identifies a later book rather than the 1926 first.

I have a first edition of Down the Santa Fe Trail and Into Mexico — 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.