# Is "Hors d'Oeuvre and Canapés (With a Key to the Cocktail Party)" by James Beard a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Hors d'Oeuvre and Canapés (With a Key to the Cocktail Party) by James Beard (M. Barrows & Company, 1940) is identified by: Octavo, about 189 pages, illustrated; lavishly produced for its day and devoted almost entirely to cocktail-party finger food. The US M.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- 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
- Publisher imprint reads M. Barrows & Company
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | James Beard |
| Publisher | M. Barrows & Company |
| Year | 1940 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Octavo, about 189 pages, illustrated; lavishly produced for its day and devoted almost entirely to cocktail-party finger food |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## 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.

## 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.

## 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.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Hors d'Oeuvre and Canapés (With a Key to the Cocktail Party)* by James Beard a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/hors-doeuvre-and-canap-s-with-a-key-to-the-cocktail-party
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.