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First-Edition Identification · Erskine Caldwell

Is My Say! Is This the U.S.A.? a First Edition?

Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1941

The points of issue

First printing of the Caldwell and Margaret Bourke-White photo-text collaboration; folio format with full-page black-and-white Bourke-White photographs, pictorial cloth boards.

Decode the printer’s key: paste the number line into the decoder · Duell, Sloan and Pearce first-edition guide.

Is this the true first?

US first edition.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Later printings and reprints exist; the first printing is the priority issue.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Say! Is This the U.S.A.? a first edition?

Look for these first-edition points: First printing of the Caldwell and Margaret Bourke-White photo-text collaboration; folio format with full-page black-and-white Bourke-White photographs, pictorial cloth boards.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page for the publisher's first-printing convention and confirm the points above. US first edition.

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

Later printings and reprints exist; the first printing is the priority issue.

I have a first edition of Say! Is This the U.S.A.? — what should I do?

If you're clearing books, New Mexico Literacy Project offers free pickup in Albuquerque, any condition, and makes sure collectible copies aren't lost. To sell, see the author's collecting guide. Either way, nothing valuable ends up in a landfill.

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