Is My Fair Land, Fair Land a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Independent dealers who handle the book catalog the first as "First Edition
• First Printing," Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1982 (ISBN 0-395-32511-0)
• By 1982 Houghton Mifflin's documented practice was a descending number line on the copyright page whose lowest digit is 1 on first printings — the number row having replaced the older "First printing" statement in the early 1970s, and typically including a manufacturer code — and the firm also placed the date in Arabic numerals on the title page of first printings, removing it on later ones
• Collation is octavo (about 23.5 cm), 262 pages, with map-illustrated endpapers; the binding is a light green cloth spine over oatmeal/tan paper-covered boards, titled in black on the spine
• The jacket bears a painting by Arthur Shilstone and, unclipped, carries the price at the flap
• CAVEAT: no source consulted reproduces this title's copyright page directly, so the number line is inferred from documented house practice rather than observed on the book

How Houghton Mifflin marked a first edition

• Merger-lineage window (Hurd & Houghton 1864 → Houghton, Osgood & Co. 1878–1880 → Houghton, Mifflin & Co. from 1880): still no 'First Edition' wording; identify by title-page date matching the copyright date, by the earli…
• Late-19th to mid-20th century (c.1880s–1950s): the operative tell is the title page. Houghton Mifflin almost invariably printed the year of first publication, in Arabic numerals, on the title page of a first printing and…

Full Houghton Mifflin 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. Read the number line — the lowest number is the printing. A line including 1 is a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2). Paste it into the decoder.
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?

US-only first: Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1982 — the census claim is correct, and no UK edition precedes it in the records consulted. Written in English, so no original-language precedence question arises. The census description holds: this is a late bridge volume of the Big Sky sequence, carrying Dick Summers forward from The Big Sky (1947) and The Way West (1949) in internal chronology although written and published more than three decades later.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition is documented in the sources consulted. Signed copies exist but are author-inscribed trade first printings — Guthrie's inked signature on the dedication page — and not a signed limited issue, so a signature is not an edition point. Later reissues that are "first thus" rather than firsts include a subsequent edition under ISBN 0-89621-417-6 and the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Big Sky reissue under ISBN 0-544-31047-0. One outlying dealer describes yellow panels with a gold cloth spine and brown lettering, which contradicts the two corroborating binding descriptions; treat such a copy with suspicion pending direct comparison.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Fair Land, Fair Land a first edition?

A first edition of Fair Land, Fair Land by A. B. Guthrie Jr. (Houghton Mifflin) is identified by: Independent dealers who handle the book catalog the first as "First Edition.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A number line whose lowest number is 1 marks a first printing (Random House ends at 2). US-only first: Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1982 — the census claim is correct, and no UK edition precedes it in the records consulted.

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

No book-club edition is documented in the sources consulted. Signed copies exist but are author-inscribed trade first printings — Guthrie's inked signature on the dedication page — and not a signed limited issue, so a signature is not an edition point. Later reissues that are "first thus" rather than firsts include a subsequent edition under ISBN 0-89621-417-6 and the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Big Sky reissue under ISBN 0-544-31047-0. One outlying dealer describes yellow panels with a gold cloth

I have a first edition of Fair Land, Fair Land — 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.