# Is "Security Analysis" by Benjamin Graham and David L. Dodd a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Security Analysis by Benjamin Graham and David L. Dodd (Whittlesey House / McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1934) is identified by: Full title: Security Analysis: Principles and Technique. Confirms the census on substance, with one refinement: the 1934 first is a Whittlesey House imprint — McGraw-Hill's trade division — and the title page carries both New York and London, so there is no UK-versus-US precedence question and no separate British first to name.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Full title: Security Analysis: Principles and Technique
- The first edition is stated "FIRST EDITION" on the copyright page and collates xi, 725 pp
- The decisive point is what is absent: the first impression carries the first-edition statement with NO impression or printing designation
- McGraw-Hill reprinted heavily within 1934 itself and stated every reprint, so later impressions of the same 1934 edition are found marked "Second Printing" on the copyright page, "First Edition, Third Impression" on the title page, "fourth printing" with the 1934 date, and onward through at least a seventh impression
- Front board carries a blind-stamped border with gilt spine titling
- Sheets were printed by The Maple Press Co., York, Pennsylvania
- Publisher imprint reads Whittlesey House / McGraw-Hill Book Company

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Benjamin Graham and David L. Dodd |
| Publisher | Whittlesey House / McGraw-Hill Book Company |
| Year | 1934 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Full title: Security Analysis: Principles and Technique |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Full title: Security Analysis: Principles and Technique. The first edition is stated "FIRST EDITION" on the copyright page and collates xi, 725 pp. The decisive point is what is absent: the first impression carries the first-edition statement with NO impression or printing designation. McGraw-Hill reprinted heavily within 1934 itself and stated every reprint, so later impressions of the same 1934 edition are found marked "Second Printing" on the copyright page, "First Edition, Third Impression" on the title page, "fourth printing" with the 1934 date, and onward through at least a seventh impression. Front board carries a blind-stamped border with gilt spine titling. Sheets were printed by The Maple Press Co., York, Pennsylvania. Cloth colour is NOT a printing point and must not be used as one: copies are found in black cloth under the Whittlesey House–McGraw-Hill trade imprint and in maroon cloth under the McGraw-Hill imprint, and ABAA dealers report no priority between them; red cloth is also reported. The frequently repeated claim that black is the first printing and maroon a second printing for overseas sale is contradicted by the trade record, which shows stated second-printing copies in both black and maroon cloth. Identify by the copyright page, not the binding.

## Is this the true first?
Confirms the census on substance, with one refinement: the 1934 first is a Whittlesey House imprint — McGraw-Hill's trade division — and the title page carries both New York and London, so there is no UK-versus-US precedence question and no separate British first to name. US only. Only 1934 is the first edition of the work; the substantially rewritten 1940 second edition, the 1951 third (with Charles Tatham, Jr.), the 1962 fourth (with Sidney Cottle), the 1988 fifth (Cottle, Murray and Block) and the 2008 sixth are new editions, not printings of the first.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue is documented. The principal reprint trap is McGraw-Hill's facsimile "Security Analysis: The Classic 1934 Edition" (ISBN 0070244960), a modern reproduction of the 1934 text that is regularly mistaken for the original. Within 1934 itself, the stated later impressions are the commonest misattribution — sellers read "FIRST EDITION" on the copyright page and stop before the impression line. Read both the copyright page and the title page. Note also that Wikipedia's black-equals-first / maroon-equals-second-printing assertion is contradicted by ABAA dealer records and should not be relied on.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Security Analysis* by Benjamin Graham and David L. Dodd a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/security-analysis
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.