Is My Life Among the Apaches a First Edition?

The points of issue

• San Francisco: A. Roman & Co., 1868, octavo, collating 322 pages, printed at the Commercial Herald Office and copyrighted by John H. Carmany & Co. in the U.S. District Court for the District of California
• First-edition copies are bound in the publisher's green cloth, blind-embossed on the front and back boards with gilt lettering confined to the spine, and illustrated with a frontispiece portrait of Cremony and twenty text illustrations by William Harrison Bryant
• Cremony served as a Spanish-language interpreter for the U.S. Boundary Commission and later as an officer with the California Column in New Mexico Territory, with extended personal dealings with Mangas Coloradas, Cochise, and other Apache leaders during the 1850s-the printed price, and his book remains a primary firsthand source still cited by historians of the Apache wars

How A. Roman & Company marked a first edition

• c.1857–c.1875: pioneer San Francisco bookseller-publisher of California/Western literature; first editions carry the 'A. Roman & Co., San Francisco' imprint and a dated title page. No first-edition statement and no numbe…
• Publisher of the early Overland Monthly (founded 1868, edited by Bret Harte); the magazine bore the 'A. Roman & Company, San Francisco' imprint during Roman's ownership through June 1869. For periodical-origin works conf…

Full A. Roman & 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. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

The 1868 A. Roman & Co. printing was not reprinted until Arizona Silhouettes issued a limited facsimile of 750 numbered copies in 1951, followed by a first trade hardback edition in 1954 that reproduces the same text; either modern reprint is readily distinguished from the scarce 1868 original by its different binding and publisher's imprint.P-035581

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Life Among the Apaches a first edition?

A first edition of Life Among the Apaches by John C. Cremony (A. Roman & Company) is identified by: Roman & Co., 1868, octavo, collating 322 pages, printed at the Commercial Herald Office and copyrighted by John H.

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.

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

The 1868 A. Roman & Co. printing was not reprinted until Arizona Silhouettes issued a limited facsimile of 750 numbered copies in 1951, followed by a first trade hardback edition in 1954 that reproduces the same text; either modern reprint is readily distinguished from the scarce 1868 original by its different binding and publisher's imprint.

I have a first edition of Life Among the Apaches — 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.