# Is "Music from Spain" by Eudora Welty a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Music from Spain by Eudora Welty (Levee Press, 1948) is identified by: The Levee Press, Greenville, Mississippi, 1948 — printed in the week of 28 June 1948 and the first book issued by the Levee Press. Census claim CONFIRMED: a US-only original — the Levee Press, Greenville, Mississippi, 1948 — with no UK or foreign-language edition preceding it.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The Levee Press, Greenville, Mississippi, 1948 — printed in the week of 28 June 1948 and the first book issued by the Levee Press
- 8vo, 62 pp, with decorative head pieces; bound in paper-covered (decorated) boards with a printed paper spine label, and issued without a dust jacket as published
- Signed by Welty on the limitation/colophon page
- On the limitation, dealers split and the split is reconcilable: the total limitation is 775 copies, of which 750 were numbered and signed for sale and 25 were hors commerce — so listings reading "one of 775" and "one of 750" are describing the same edition from different ends of the colophon, not two different books
- Bibliography: Polk A6:1
- This is Welty's first signed limited edition and the only one published in her home state
- Publisher imprint reads Levee Press

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Eudora Welty |
| Publisher | Levee Press |
| Year | 1948 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The Levee Press, Greenville, Mississippi, 1948 — printed in the week of 28 June 1948 and the first book issued by the Levee Press |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
The Levee Press, Greenville, Mississippi, 1948 — printed in the week of 28 June 1948 and the first book issued by the Levee Press. 8vo, 62 pp, with decorative head pieces; bound in paper-covered (decorated) boards with a printed paper spine label, and issued without a dust jacket as published. Signed by Welty on the limitation/colophon page. On the limitation, dealers split and the split is reconcilable: the total limitation is 775 copies, of which 750 were numbered and signed for sale and 25 were hors commerce — so listings reading "one of 775" and "one of 750" are describing the same edition from different ends of the colophon, not two different books. Bibliography: Polk A6:1. This is Welty's first signed limited edition and the only one published in her home state.

## Is this the true first?
Census claim CONFIRMED: a US-only original — the Levee Press, Greenville, Mississippi, 1948 — with no UK or foreign-language edition preceding it. The trap is The Golden Apples (Harcourt, Brace, New York, 1949), in which the story was collected as the penultimate piece; that is the first trade-collection appearance and is often mistaken for the story's first appearance. The Levee Press printing precedes it by roughly a year and is the true first.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue exists — this is a signed limited press book, never a trade printing, and was not offered through any club. The only cataloguing hazard is the 775-vs-750 limitation discrepancy noted above, which reflects the hors commerce copies rather than a variant issue.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Music from Spain* by Eudora Welty a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/music-from-spain
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.