Is My In Dreams Begin Responsibilities a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Schwartz's first book, published 12 December 1938 in an edition of 1,000 copies
• No edition or printing statement and no number line — identification rests on the imprint, the limitation and the physical book
• Tall 8vo (approximately 23.5 cm), bound in black cloth with the title stamped in gilt on the spine and the New Directions logo stamped in gilt on the front cover; collation [ii], [10], 11-171, [3] pp
• Contents are a reliable structural check: the title story, the narrative poem "Coriolanus and His Mother," a section of 25 poems, and "Dr
• Bergen's Belief," a play in prose and verse
• The jacket is scarce and the great majority of surviving copies lack it; where present it is a priced jacket, with the price present at the flap

How New Directions, Norfolk, Connecticut marked a first edition

• Modern paperbacks carry a descending number line; lowest digit (1) present indicates first printing.

Full New Directions, Norfolk, Connecticut first-edition guide →

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. 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.
3. Verify this is the UK 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?

New Directions, Norfolk, Connecticut, 1938 is the true first — census correct. No UK edition has been traced, so US-only precedence stands. One genuine precedence caveat: the title story first appeared in the inaugural issue of Partisan Review in 1937, a year before the book; that periodical appearance precedes the book but is a magazine printing, not a collected edition, and does not displace the 1938 New Directions as the first edition in book form.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition is documented; the 1,000-copy first was too small and too literary for club distribution. The principal first-thus trap is New Directions' posthumous In Dreams Begin Responsibilities and Other Stories (1978), a different, resettext selection with a different title that is widely offered under the 1938 title — it is not the first edition. Screeno: Stories and Poems (2004) is likewise a later selection. Any copy titled "...and Other Stories," or in any binding other than the black gilt-stamped cloth, is not the 1938 first.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of In Dreams Begin Responsibilities a first edition?

A first edition of In Dreams Begin Responsibilities by Delmore Schwartz (New Directions, Norfolk, Connecticut) is identified by: Schwartz's first book, published 12 December 1938 in an edition of 1,000 copies.

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). New Directions, Norfolk, Connecticut, 1938 is the true first — census correct.

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

No book-club edition is documented; the 1,000-copy first was too small and too literary for club distribution. The principal first-thus trap is New Directions' posthumous In Dreams Begin Responsibilities and Other Stories (1978), a different, resettext selection with a different title that is widely offered under the 1938 title — it is not the first edition. Screeno: Stories and Poems (2004) is likewise a later selection. Any copy titled "...and Other Stories," or in any binding other than the b

I have a first edition of In Dreams Begin Responsibilities — 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.