# Is "North of the Danube" by Erskine Caldwell a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of North of the Danube by Erskine Caldwell (The Viking Press, 1939) is identified by: First printing, The Viking Press, 1939. US first edition (Viking, 1939).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First printing, The Viking Press, 1939
- Second photo-text collaboration with Margaret Bourke-White, documenting Czechoslovakia on the eve of the Nazi invasion; text by Caldwell with black-and-white photogravures by Bourke-White, in cloth with dust jacket
- Publisher imprint reads The Viking Press
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Erskine Caldwell |
| Publisher | The Viking Press |
| Year | 1939 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First printing, The Viking Press, 1939 |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First printing, The Viking Press, 1939. Second photo-text collaboration with Margaret Bourke-White, documenting Czechoslovakia on the eve of the Nazi invasion; text by Caldwell with black-and-white photogravures by Bourke-White, in cloth with dust jacket.

## Is this the true first?
US first edition (Viking, 1939).

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later printings and reprints exist; the true first is the 1939 Viking issue. Some copies were signed by both author and photographer on the half title.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *North of the Danube* by Erskine Caldwell a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/north-of-the-danube
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.