Is My Hors d'Oeuvre and Canapés (With a Key to the Cocktail Party) a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Octavo, about 189 pages, illustrated; lavishly produced for its day and devoted almost entirely to cocktail-party finger food
• It was James Beard's first book
• The copyright page carries the 1940 M. Barrows & Company imprint
• A genuine first printing shows no printing statement at all; the same 1940-dated sheets were run through multiple printings, and later printings add an explicit line (a 'Sixth Printing' notation is recorded on some 1940 copies), so first-printing identification rests on the M. Barrows imprint together with the complete absence of any printing line
• The first-issue dust jacket should retain the printed price on the flap; jackets are scarce and frequently chipped or with loss to the spine panel

How to confirm the first-printing statement

Publishers stated first printings differently by era. The decisive tells are a printed “First Edition/First Printing” statement, a number line whose lowest number is 1 (Random House ends at 2), or a dated first printing with no later printings listed. Paste your copyright page into the number-line decoder.

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. 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.
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 M. Barrows 1940 edition is the true first. Beard revised the book in 1963, and it was reissued in 1985; those are later first-thus editions, not the first. First-printing identification rests on the 1940 Barrows imprint and the absence of revision or later-printing notes. Note that some 1940 copies carry a printing statement such as a sixth printing, so verify the absence of any later-printing line.P-013165

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

The 1963 and 1985 revised editions are common and frequently misdescribed; they carry updated copyright dates and revised content. There was no significant book-club issue of the 1940 original.P-013166

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Hors d'Oeuvre and Canapés (With a Key to the Cocktail Party) a first edition?

A first edition of Hors d'Oeuvre and Canapés (With a Key to the Cocktail Party) by James Beard (M. Barrows & Company) is identified by: Octavo, about 189 pages, illustrated; lavishly produced for its day and devoted almost entirely to cocktail-party finger food.

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. The US M.

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

The 1963 and 1985 revised editions are common and frequently misdescribed; they carry updated copyright dates and revised content. There was no significant book-club issue of the 1940 original.

I have a first edition of Hors d'Oeuvre and Canapés (With a Key to the Cocktail Party) — 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.