# Is "George Washington (biography)" by Douglas Southall Freeman a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of George Washington (biography) by Douglas Southall Freeman (Charles Scribner's Sons, 1948) is identified by: Seven volumes in publisher's cloth: Volume I and Volume II (Young Washington) 1948; Volumes III and IV (Planter and Patriot / Leader of the Revolution) 1951; Volume V (Victory with the Help of France) 1952; Volume VI (Patriot and President) 1954; and Volume VII (First in Peace) 1957. US Scribner is the true first, seven volumes, 1948-1957.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Seven volumes in publisher's cloth: Volume I and Volume II (Young Washington) 1948
- Volumes III and IV (Planter and Patriot / Leader of the Revolution) 1951
- Volume V (Victory with the Help of France) 1952
- Volume VI (Patriot and President) 1954; and Volume VII (First in Peace) 1957
- First printings of Volumes I through VI carry the Scribner seal and the capital 'A' on the copyright page; later printings of those volumes lack the 'A'
- Publisher imprint reads Charles Scribner's Sons
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Douglas Southall Freeman |
| Publisher | Charles Scribner's Sons |
| Year | 1948 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Seven volumes in publisher's cloth: Volume I and Volume II (Young Washington) 1948 |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Seven volumes in publisher's cloth: Volume I and Volume II (Young Washington) 1948; Volumes III and IV (Planter and Patriot / Leader of the Revolution) 1951; Volume V (Victory with the Help of France) 1952; Volume VI (Patriot and President) 1954; and Volume VII (First in Peace) 1957. First printings of Volumes I through VI carry the Scribner seal and the capital 'A' on the copyright page; later printings of those volumes lack the 'A'.

## Is this the true first?
US Scribner is the true first, seven volumes, 1948-1957. Volume seven (1957) was completed after Freeman's death by John Alexander Carroll and Mary Wells Ashworth from his research. The set was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Biography in 1958, posthumously.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Verify the Scribner seal and capital 'A' on the copyright pages of Volumes I through VI; note that Volume VII (1957), completed after Freeman's death, does not carry the seal or the 'A', so its presence cannot be used to date that volume. Uniform first printings are required for a true first set, and mixed-printing sets are common given the long publication span.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *George Washington (biography)* by Douglas Southall Freeman a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/george-washington-biography
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.