# Is "Eleanor Roosevelt, Vol. 1, 1884-1933" by Blanche Wiesen Cook a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Eleanor Roosevelt, Vol. 1, 1884-1933 by Blanche Wiesen Cook (Viking, 1992) is identified by: First printing has a complete number line on the copyright page descending to 1 with no printing statement. US Viking (New York), 1992, is the true first edition of Volume One.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First printing has a complete number line on the copyright page descending to 1 with no printing statement
- Issued in cloth-backed boards with a price-bearing first-state dust jacket (ISBN 0-670-80486-X)
- First of Cook's multi-volume biography, a New York Times bestseller
- Publisher imprint reads Viking
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Blanche Wiesen Cook |
| Publisher | Viking |
| Year | 1992 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First printing has a complete number line on the copyright page descending to 1 with no printing statement |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First printing has a complete number line on the copyright page descending to 1 with no printing statement. Issued in cloth-backed boards with a price-bearing first-state dust jacket (ISBN 0-670-80486-X). First of Cook's multi-volume biography, a New York Times bestseller.

## Is this the true first?
US Viking (New York), 1992, is the true first edition of Volume One.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later printings are explicitly designated (dealers record a 'First Edition; Second Printing'), so a stated printing on the copyright page marks a reprint; confirm the number line descends to 1. Each volume of the multi-volume set is a separate first edition with its own year (Volume Two, 1933-1938, followed later).

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Eleanor Roosevelt, Vol. 1, 1884-1933* by Blanche Wiesen Cook a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/eleanor-roosevelt-vol-1-1884-1933
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.