# Is "Fighting Caravans" by Zane Grey a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Fighting Caravans by Zane Grey (Harper & Brothers, 1929) is identified by: First printing states "First Edition" on the copyright page (Harper's practice from 1922 onward). True first is the Harper & Brothers US edition.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First printing states "First Edition" on the copyright page (Harper's practice from 1922 onward)
- Harper's date cipher is a two-letter pair in which the second letter is the year code: D = 1929
- The first letter is a month code and varies (e.g. copies are recorded with H-D)
- Blue and grey pictorial cloth, frontispiece, pictorial endpapers, in dust jacket
- Publisher imprint reads Harper & Brothers
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Zane Grey |
| Publisher | Harper & Brothers |
| Year | 1929 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First printing states "First Edition" on the copyright page (Harper's practice from 1922… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First printing states "First Edition" on the copyright page (Harper's practice from 1922 onward). Harper's date cipher is a two-letter pair in which the second letter is the year code: D = 1929. The first letter is a month code and varies (e.g. copies are recorded with H-D). Blue and grey pictorial cloth, frontispiece, pictorial endpapers, in dust jacket.

## Is this the true first?
True first is the Harper & Brothers US edition.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Grosset & Dunlap reprints are common and lack the stated "First Edition" line; confirm the copyright-page cipher's year letter (D) and the stated first line.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Fighting Caravans* by Zane Grey a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/fighting-caravans
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-03.