Is My 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

• Merger-lineage window (Hurd & Houghton 1864 → Houghton, Osgood & Co. 1878–1880 → Houghton, Mifflin & Co. from 1880): still no 'First Edition' wording; identify by title-page date matching the copyright date, by the earli…
• 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 and…

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?

Census claim confirmed. 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.

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.

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. Census claim confirmed.

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 — 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.