Is My Copy of Pony Tracks a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First edition, first printing: Harper & Brothers, Franklin Square, New York, 1895
• The textual test is the 1895 title-page date with no later printing listed on the copyright page — Harper used no month/year printing code at this date, so there is no positive statement to find
• Octavo, collating viii, [2], 269, [3] pp., with 70 Remington illustrations: the frontispiece (with tissue guard) plus 69 full-page black-and-white plates; a complete copy must have all 70 and the tissue
• Standard binding is publisher's decorated/pictorial cloth lettered in gilt on the front cover and spine; dealer descriptions of the cloth differ (brown/tan versus orange), so colour is not a reliable printing point
• A scarcer issue in suede leather also exists and is notoriously fragile — a binding variant of the 1895 sheets, not a later state
• References: BAL 16489, Howes R-207, Graff 3458

How Harper & Brothers marked a first edition

• Year code (J skipped): M=1912, N=1913 ... Z=1925, then A=1926, B=1927 ... Z=1950 (cycles).
• Code reads as two letters (month-year), e.g. 'K-Z' = October 1925.

Full Harper & Brothers 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, and Remington's first book as author (he had illustrated others' books earlier). Harper & Brothers, New York, 1895 is the true first; no separately set British edition is documented in the sources consulted, so there is no UK/US precedence contest. The live "first thus" trap is the University of Oklahoma Press edition (Norman, 1961) in The Western Frontier Library, with an introduction by J. Frank Dobie — reset and reduced (c. 174 pp.), and routinely mislisted as a first edition.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue documented for the 1895 Harper printing. Reprint tells: any imprint other than Harper & Brothers rules out the first — notably University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, 1961 (Western Frontier Library; Dobie introduction; reduced page count), and later Bison/Nebraska-era reissues. A later Harper issue in a different format is reported (c. 1898); it will not collate to viii, [2], 269, [3] pp. with 70 plates.P-043376

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Pony Tracks a first edition?

A first edition of Pony Tracks by Frederic Remington (Harper & Brothers) is identified by: First edition, first printing: Harper & Brothers, Franklin Square, New York, 1895.

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, and Remington's first book as author (he had illustrated others' books earlier).

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

No book-club issue documented for the 1895 Harper printing. Reprint tells: any imprint other than Harper & Brothers rules out the first — notably University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, 1961 (Western Frontier Library; Dobie introduction; reduced page count), and later Bison/Nebraska-era reissues. A later Harper issue in a different format is reported (c. 1898); it will not collate to viii, [2], 269, [3] pp. with 70 plates.

I have a first edition of Pony Tracks — 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.