# Is "On a Darkling Plain" by Wallace Stegner a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of On a Darkling Plain by Wallace Stegner (Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1940) is identified by: New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1940. True first US.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1940
- First edition, first printing identified by the 'First Edition' statement on the copyright page, which Harcourt, Brace removed on later printings (an occasional '1' also appears on the first printing)
- Title page dated 1940
- Blue cloth, spine lettered in silver
- Later printings lack the 'First Edition' statement
- Publisher imprint reads Harcourt, Brace and Company
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Wallace Stegner |
| Publisher | Harcourt, Brace and Company |
| Year | 1940 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1940 |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1940. First edition, first printing identified by the 'First Edition' statement on the copyright page, which Harcourt, Brace removed on later printings (an occasional '1' also appears on the first printing). Title page dated 1940. Blue cloth, spine lettered in silver. Later printings lack the 'First Edition' statement.

## Is this the true first?
True first US. Stegner's third novel; previously serialized in Redbook as 'Clash by Night.'

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition of concern for the true first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *On a Darkling Plain* by Wallace Stegner a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/on-a-darkling-plain
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-03.