Is My Copy of My People the Sioux a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First printing: Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston and New York, 1928; edited by E. A. Brininstool, with an introduction by William S. Hart
• Collates xiv, 288 pp., with a frontispiece portrait of Chief Standing Bear and illustrations from the author's own drawings and from photographs
• Houghton Mifflin used no printing statement in 1928; the documented house test is the date in Arabic numerals on the title page, present on first printings and removed on subsequent printings — so a first shows 1928 on the title page matching the 1928 copyright, with no later-printing notice
• (HM only began adding a "First Printing" line to the copyright page in the late 1950s, and a number row in the early 1970s; their absence here is expected and is not evidence against a first.) Reported bound in decorated tan/beige cloth with brown lettering to the front cover and spine — a single-dealer description, and binding colour is not a printing point
• No jacket points and no first-state text errors are documented in the sources consulted; do not assume any

How Houghton Mifflin Company marked a first edition

• Late-19th to mid-20th century (c.1880s–1950s): the operative tell is the title page. Houghton Mifflin almost invariably printed the year of first publication, in Arabic numerals, on the title page of a first printing…

Full Houghton Mifflin 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. Confirm the first-edition statement — look for “First Edition,” “First Printing,” or the publisher’s equivalent wording.
3. 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.
4. Verify this is the US true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
5. 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.
6. 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?

US first; Houghton Mifflin, Boston and New York, 1928. Written in English for American publication; no British edition and no original-language edition precedes it in the sources consulted, so there is no UK/US or translation precedence question — the 1928 Houghton Mifflin is the sole first.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue documented. The ubiquitous reprints are University of Nebraska Press / Bison Books paperbacks (1975, and a later issue with an introduction by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve) — "first thus" at best. Any ISBN, added modern introduction, or Bison/Nebraska imprint rules out the 1928 first. Later Houghton Mifflin printings drop the date from the title page, which is the primary reprint tell within the publisher's own run.P-043383

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of My People the Sioux a first edition?

A first edition of My People the Sioux by Luther Standing Bear (Houghton Mifflin Company) is identified by: First printing: Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston and New York, 1928; edited by E. A. Brininstool, with an introduction by William S. Hart.

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. US first; Houghton Mifflin, Boston and New York, 1928.

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

No book-club issue documented. The ubiquitous reprints are University of Nebraska Press / Bison Books paperbacks (1975, and a later issue with an introduction by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve) — "first thus" at best. Any ISBN, added modern introduction, or Bison/Nebraska imprint rules out the 1928 first. Later Houghton Mifflin printings drop the date from the title page, which is the primary reprint tell within the publisher's own run.

I have a first edition of My People the Sioux — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and decode the printing with the free First Edition Checker. Clearing out books? I take them as a free donation and make sure collectible copies are identified, not discarded: free pickup in the Albuquerque metro (scheduled by route), the 24/7 drop box at 5445 Edith Blvd NE, or donor-paid mail-in from anywhere in the US. Questions? Call or text 505-250-3804.

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.