# Is "Fire in the Night" by Raymond Otis a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Fire in the Night by Raymond Otis (Farrar & Rinehart, 1934) is identified by: New York: Farrar & Rinehart, 1934. The Farrar & Rinehart edition of 1934 is the true first edition; there is no earlier printing.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- New York: Farrar & Rinehart, 1934
- First edition of this scarce Santa Fe-school novel, set among the volunteer firemen of Santa Fe and turning on a great fire on the night of September 6, 1931
- Following the firm's practice of the period, the first printing is identified by the Farrar & Rinehart colophon (the running-figure device) on the copyright page with no later-printing statement present; the firm only rarely substituted the words 'First Edition' for the colophon
- Issued in cloth with a pictorial dust jacket
- Publisher imprint reads Farrar & Rinehart
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Raymond Otis |
| Publisher | Farrar & Rinehart |
| Year | 1934 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | New York: Farrar & Rinehart, 1934 |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
New York: Farrar & Rinehart, 1934. First edition of this scarce Santa Fe-school novel, set among the volunteer firemen of Santa Fe and turning on a great fire on the night of September 6, 1931. Following the firm's practice of the period, the first printing is identified by the Farrar & Rinehart colophon (the running-figure device) on the copyright page with no later-printing statement present; the firm only rarely substituted the words 'First Edition' for the colophon. Issued in cloth with a pictorial dust jacket.

## Is this the true first?
The Farrar & Rinehart edition of 1934 is the true first edition; there is no earlier printing.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Because there is no number line, the copyright-page colophon and the absence of any later-printing statement are the sole textual identifiers, so read the copyright page carefully. Later printings and reprints reproduce the text but drop the colophon or add a printing notice and are not the first edition.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Fire in the Night* by Raymond Otis a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/fire-in-the-night
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.