Is My Copy of Great River 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…
• Subsequent printings are identified by the ABSENCE of the colophon, not by any added printing statement. Per ILAB and Quill & Brush, subsequent printings were NOT otherwise noted on the copyright page.

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. The first-edition publisher is Rinehart & Company, Inc., not Farrar Straus.

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 a first edition?

A first edition of Great River 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 — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and decode the printing with the free First Edition Checker. Clearing out books? I take them as a free donation and make sure collectible copies are identified, not discarded: free pickup in the Albuquerque metro (scheduled by route), the 24/7 drop box at 5445 Edith Blvd NE, or donor-paid mail-in from anywhere in the US. Questions? Call or text 505-250-3804.

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.