# Is "Selected Short Stories of Irwin Shaw" by Irwin Shaw a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Selected Short Stories of Irwin Shaw by Irwin Shaw (Modern Library / Random House, 1961) is identified by: First-thus only: a Modern Library compilation (number 319) of previously published stories, with an author preface, red cloth, approximately 426 pages. Not a true first of any contained story; this is a first-thus Modern Library collection assembling earlier work.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First-thus only: a Modern Library compilation (number 319) of previously published stories, with an author preface, red cloth, approximately 426 pages
- The first Modern Library printing is dated by the dust-jacket spine title list and the jacket's catalogue listing rather than by any copyright-page printing statement
- Publisher imprint reads Modern Library / Random House
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Irwin Shaw |
| Publisher | Modern Library / Random House |
| Year | 1961 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First-thus only: a Modern Library compilation (number 319) of previously published stories, with an author preface, red cloth… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First-thus only: a Modern Library compilation (number 319) of previously published stories, with an author preface, red cloth, approximately 426 pages. The first Modern Library printing is dated by the dust-jacket spine title list and the jacket's catalogue listing rather than by any copyright-page printing statement.

## Is this the true first?
Not a true first of any contained story; this is a first-thus Modern Library collection assembling earlier work.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later Modern Library printings are identified by changes to the dust-jacket spine number/title list, the standard Modern Library dating method.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Selected Short Stories of Irwin Shaw* by Irwin Shaw a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/selected-short-stories-of-irwin-shaw
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.