# Is "Passing" by Nella Larsen a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Passing by Nella Larsen (Alfred A. Knopf, 1929) is identified by: The first printing has 1929 on both the title page and the title verso, with no additional printing stated on the copyright page — Knopf's pre-1933/34 practice was to state every printing after the first, so absence of a statement is the test. US Alfred A.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The first printing has 1929 on both the title page and the title verso, with no additional printing stated on the copyright page — Knopf's pre-1933/34 practice was to state every printing after the first, so absence of a statement is the test
- Bound in publisher's black cloth ruled in red and lettered in silver, top edge stained red; collation [10], 215, [2] pp, 8vo (approx
- 7 11/16 x 5 the printed price in.)
- There is a documented text-state point: the closing paragraph present in the early printing was dropped from the third printing, and scholarship divides on the cause (Thadious M. Davis suggests Larsen's own hand
- Charles R. Larson attributes it to a dropped plate) — the presence of the final paragraph is a useful corroborating check on an early text state, though it does not by itself separate the first from the second printing
- All three 1929 printings were small
- Publisher imprint reads Alfred A. Knopf

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Nella Larsen |
| Publisher | Alfred A. Knopf |
| Year | 1929 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The first printing has 1929 on both the title page and the title verso, with no additional printing stated on the copyright page — Knopf's… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
The first printing has 1929 on both the title page and the title verso, with no additional printing stated on the copyright page — Knopf's pre-1933/34 practice was to state every printing after the first, so absence of a statement is the test. Bound in publisher's black cloth ruled in red and lettered in silver, top edge stained red; collation [10], 215, [2] pp, 8vo (approx. 7 11/16 x 5 the printed price in.). There is a documented text-state point: the closing paragraph present in the early printing was dropped from the third printing, and scholarship divides on the cause (Thadious M. Davis suggests Larsen's own hand; Charles R. Larson attributes it to a dropped plate) — the presence of the final paragraph is a useful corroborating check on an early text state, though it does not by itself separate the first from the second printing. All three 1929 printings were small. The jacket is exceptionally scarce; a priced jacket with the price present at the flap is the unclipped state.

## Is this the true first?
US Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1929 is the only first — Larsen's second novel. No separate contemporaneous British first edition was traced; the Knopf imprint line of the period reads New York and London, which reflects the imprint rather than a distinct UK edition and does not create a competing first.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue is documented in the sources consulted. The live trap is the stated later Knopf printings — all three printings appeared in 1929 and are dated 1929, so the year alone proves nothing; the copyright page must be free of any printing statement.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Passing* by Nella Larsen a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/passing
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.