Is My Great River signed first a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Great River: The Rio Grande in North American History was published in two volumes by Rinehart & Company, Inc., New York, in 1954 (Volume One: Indians and Spain
• Volume Two: Mexico and the United States), issued together in a publisher's slipcase
• The first edition is bound in black cloth boards with gilt spine lettering and blue endpapers, and carries the Rinehart colophon (the circled R device) on the title and copyright pages
• There is no printer's number line, so the copyright-page wording is the sole textual identifier and should be read carefully; a first printing shows a clean 1954 copyright with no later-printing or subsequent-impression notice
• A separate signed limited issue of 1,000 copies, signed by Horgan at a limitation leaf, exists apart from the trade printing
• The work won the 1955 Pulitzer Prize for History and the Bancroft Prize

How Rinehart & Company marked a first edition

• The primary tell of a first printing is a colophon in a circle on the copyright page: 'FR' in a circle for Farrar & Rinehart (1929-1946) and 'R' in a circle for Rinehart & Co. (1946-1960). The colophon was simply REMOVED…

Full Rinehart & Company 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?

The US Rinehart & Company two-volume set (1954) is the true first edition. Note: the base record listed the publisher as Farrar Straus; the verified first-edition publisher is Rinehart & Company, Inc.P-024293

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Book-club editions and later printings reprint the text but are not the first edition and are far less collectible. Because there is no number line, the copyright-page wording is the sole textual identifier — read it carefully. A book-club set typically lacks the slipcase, may show a blind-stamped dot on the rear board, and carries a book-club notation on the copyright page. Use the points above to be certain — see book-club edition vs. first edition.P-024294

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Great River signed first a first edition?

A first edition of Great River signed first by Paul Horgan (Rinehart & Company) is identified by: Great River: The Rio Grande in North American History was published in two volumes by Rinehart & Company, Inc., New York, in 1954 (Volume One: Indians and Spain; Volume Two: Mexico and the United States), issued together in a publisher's slipcase.

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). The US Rinehart & Company two-volume set (1954) is the true first edition.

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

Book-club editions and later printings reprint the text but are not the first edition and are far less collectible. Because there is no number line, the copyright-page wording is the sole textual identifier — read it carefully. A book-club set typically lacks the slipcase, may show a blind-stamped dot on the rear board, and carries a book-club notation on the copyright page. Use the points above to be certain — see book-club edition vs. first edition.

I have a first edition of Great River signed first — 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.