# Is "Melville Goodwin, USA" by John P. Marquand a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Melville Goodwin, USA by John P. Marquand (Little, Brown and Company, 1951) is identified by: First printing identified by the Little, Brown first-edition statement on the copyright page, with no later-printing notice present. US first, Little, Brown, Boston, 1951; the novel was a National Book Award finalist.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First printing identified by the Little, Brown first-edition statement on the copyright page, with no later-printing notice present
- The book is a thick octavo of roughly 596 pages, bound in tan-to-beige cloth with a blue spine label and blue and gold decorative bands, issued in a pictorial, lettered dust jacket whose spine carries a red background prone to fading at the extremities; a first-issue jacket retains the printed price and is not clipped
- Publisher imprint reads Little, Brown and Company
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | John P. Marquand |
| Publisher | Little, Brown and Company |
| Year | 1951 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First printing identified by the Little, Brown first-edition statement on the copyright page, with no later-printing notice present |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
First printing identified by the Little, Brown first-edition statement on the copyright page, with no later-printing notice present. The book is a thick octavo of roughly 596 pages, bound in tan-to-beige cloth with a blue spine label and blue and gold decorative bands, issued in a pictorial, lettered dust jacket whose spine carries a red background prone to fading at the extremities; a first-issue jacket retains the printed price and is not clipped.

## Is this the true first?
US first, Little, Brown, Boston, 1951; the novel was a National Book Award finalist. First British edition published by Robert Hale, London, in 1952.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
A Book-of-the-Month Club issue exists, identifiable by a blind-stamped impression on the lower rear board near the spine; it is not the first edition and typically appears in a jacket with no printed price.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Melville Goodwin, USA* by John P. Marquand a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/melville-goodwin-usa
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.