Is My God's Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The first-printing copyright page reads 'Copyright, 1927, by The Viking Press, Inc. / Printed in U.S.A. / First Published in April, 1927' and carries NO further printing lines; later Viking printings add successive dates beneath that line (July 1927, March 1928, January 1929, July 1930, and onward)
• Collation vii, 56 pp, with eight full-page drawings by Aaron Douglas and lettering by C. B. Falls; composed and printed by Abbott Press & Mortimer-Walling, Inc., New York
• Bound with a black cloth spine and gilt / sepia-gold decorated paper-covered boards (described variously as quarter or three-quarter cloth)
• The preface is dated in print 'New York City, 1927.' References: Blockson 5369
• Work 459

How The Viking Press, New York marked a first edition

• Earliest era (1925 to roughly 1937): Viking used no first-edition statement and instead noted later printings; treat the absence of any later-printing notice, with the title-page/copyright dates matching, as the first.
• From about 1937 onward: first printings state "First published by The Viking Press in [year]" or "Published by The Viking Press in [year]" with no later-printing notice; later printings were noted, and from the 1980s a n…

Full The Viking Press, New York first-edition guide →

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Check for a number line or dated printing — the lowest number present is the printing; a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the tell.
3. Verify this is the US true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
4. 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.
5. 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 first — census claim corrected. The Viking Press, New York, April 1927 precedes the British edition from George Allen & Unwin, London, 1929 by two years. The census note of 'US only' is wrong: the Allen & Unwin edition exists and is collected as the first UK edition (copies are found in purple cloth), but Viking 1927 is the true first.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue documented at first publication. The critical trap is that Viking's SECOND printing is also dated 1927 (July 1927) — a 1927 date alone does not establish a first printing; only the copyright page, showing 'First Published in April, 1927' with no later printing dates added beneath, settles it. Viking kept the book in print for decades and numbered its printings on the copyright page (a seventeenth printing of 1959 is recorded in the trade), and later reissues (Viking 1969; Penguin 1990, the first Penguin edition) are common.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of God's Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse a first edition?

A first edition of God's Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse by James Weldon Johnson (The Viking Press, New York) is identified by: The first-printing copyright page reads 'Copyright, 1927, by The Viking Press, Inc.

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

Check the copyright page. A stated first edition, a number line ending in 1, or a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the key. US first — census claim corrected.

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

No book-club issue documented at first publication. The critical trap is that Viking's SECOND printing is also dated 1927 (July 1927) — a 1927 date alone does not establish a first printing; only the copyright page, showing 'First Published in April, 1927' with no later printing dates added beneath, settles it. Viking kept the book in print for decades and numbered its printings on the copyright page (a seventeenth printing of 1959 is recorded in the trade), and later reissues (Viking 1969; Peng

I have a first edition of God's Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse — 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.