# Is "Ship Fever and Other Stories" by Andrea Barrett a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Ship Fever and Other Stories by Andrea Barrett (W. W. Norton, 1996) is identified by: Full descending number line present on the copyright page; W. The US Norton hardcover of 1996 is the true first edition.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Full descending number line present on the copyright page
- W. W. Norton (New York) imprint; half white cloth over white boards with copper lettering; first-issue dust jacket priced on the front flap
- Issued in cloth and in a simultaneous trade paperback; the cloth first is the collectible issue and is genuinely scarce
- Publisher imprint reads W. W. Norton
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Andrea Barrett |
| Publisher | W. W. Norton |
| Year | 1996 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Full descending number line present on the copyright page |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Full descending number line present on the copyright page; W. W. Norton (New York) imprint; half white cloth over white boards with copper lettering; first-issue dust jacket priced on the front flap. Issued in cloth and in a simultaneous trade paperback; the cloth first is the collectible issue and is genuinely scarce.

## Is this the true first?
The US Norton hardcover of 1996 is the true first edition. It won the 1996 National Book Award for Fiction. The cloth first had a small print run and is uncommon.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The simultaneous Norton trade paperback is not the collectible first. Confirm the cloth binding and a complete number line ending in 1.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Ship Fever and Other Stories* by Andrea Barrett a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/ship-fever-and-other-stories
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.