# Is "Red Sky at Morning signed first" by Richard Bradford a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Red Sky at Morning signed first by Richard Bradford (Lippincott, 1968) is identified by: True first edition: J. The 1968 J.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- True first edition: J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia and New York, 1968, the author's first book
- Issued in red cloth with the spine titled in gilt; a first-state jacket is unclipped and retains the Lippincott printed price on the front flap
- Confirm the 1968 Lippincott imprint and the absence of any later-printing or book-club statement on the copyright page
- New Mexico boarding-school canon
- Publisher imprint reads Lippincott
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Richard Bradford |
| Publisher | Lippincott |
| Year | 1968 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | True first edition: J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia and New York, 1968, the author's first book |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
True first edition: J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia and New York, 1968, the author's first book. Issued in red cloth with the spine titled in gilt; a first-state jacket is unclipped and retains the Lippincott printed price on the front flap. Confirm the 1968 Lippincott imprint and the absence of any later-printing or book-club statement on the copyright page. New Mexico boarding-school canon.

## Is this the true first?
The 1968 J. B. Lippincott hardcover is the true first edition and first appearance of Bradford's debut novel, later the basis for the 1971 film.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Book-club editions and later printings reprint the text but are not the first edition; a book-club copy typically shows a blindstamped gutter code on the rear board and carries no printed price on the jacket. Use the Lippincott 1968 imprint and unclipped priced jacket to be certain.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Red Sky at Morning signed first* by Richard Bradford a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/red-sky-at-morning-signed-first
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.