# Is "In the American Grain" by William Carlos Williams a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of In the American Grain by William Carlos Williams (Albert & Charles Boni, 1925) is identified by: First edition, first issue, Albert & Charles Boni, New York, 1925 (Wallace A9); Williams's first book issued by a commercial press. The 1925 Boni edition is the true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, first issue, Albert & Charles Boni, New York, 1925 (Wallace A9)
- Williams's first book issued by a commercial press
- An octavo of roughly 235 pages bound in black cloth, with the scarce original dust jacket (which should retain its printed price)
- The first printing carries no later-printing statement on the copyright page
- Publisher imprint reads Albert & Charles Boni
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | William Carlos Williams |
| Publisher | Albert & Charles Boni |
| Year | 1925 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, first issue, Albert & Charles Boni, New York, 1925 (Wallace A9) |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
First edition, first issue, Albert & Charles Boni, New York, 1925 (Wallace A9); Williams's first book issued by a commercial press. An octavo of roughly 235 pages bound in black cloth, with the scarce original dust jacket (which should retain its printed price). The first printing carries no later-printing statement on the copyright page.

## Is this the true first?
The 1925 Boni edition is the true first. The later New Directions reissue adds an introduction by Horace Gregory and does not affect first-edition status.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition of the first. The New Directions reissue, identifiable by its Gregory introduction and New Directions imprint, is a separate later edition.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *In the American Grain* by William Carlos Williams a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/in-the-american-grain
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-03.