Is My Six-Guns and Saddle Leather a First Edition?

The points of issue

• University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, 1954 — full title "Six-Guns and Saddle Leather: A Bibliography of Books and Pamphlets on Western Outlaws and Gunmen." LCCN 54-5939
• Collates xiii, 426 pp (some copies collated xiii, 426, [2]); approximately 1,132 annotated entries
• 17 facsimile illustrations of title pages
• The copyright page carries a stated "First edition"
• Oklahoma used no number line in this period, so a later printing would be identified by an added printing statement rather than by a line
• Bound in green cloth (described by dealers as green linen buckram) stamped in gilt, with a darker green spine label/panel

How University of Oklahoma Press, Norman marked a first edition

• Copyright page typically prints a sequence of edition/printing/year codes. Older Chicago books show two date rows: a row of EDITION years and a row of IMPRESSION/printing years; the earliest impression year present indic…

Full University of Oklahoma Press, Norman first-edition guide →

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Confirm the first-edition statement — look for “First Edition,” “First Printing,” or the publisher’s equivalent wording.
3. Read the number line — the lowest number is the printing. A line including 1 is a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2). Paste it into the decoder.
4. Verify this is the US true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
5. Rule out a book-club edition — a blind-stamp on the rear board or a jacket with no printed price marks a book-club copy.
6. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

The dust jacket

For a collectible first edition the dust jacket matters as much as the book. Confirm the jacket is present and unclipped — the printed price should still be at the corner of the flap (a clipped corner or a price-less flap can indicate a book-club issue). First-state jackets can differ from later ones in the cover art, blurbs, or review quotations; where a specific first-state jacket point is known for this title it is noted above.

Binding & format

Where multiple bindings exist, the hardcover trade issue is usually (but not always) the precedence copy — confirm against the points above. Later printings often show cheaper cloth, thinner boards, or simplified spine stamping. A simultaneous signed or limited issue, when one exists, is a distinct state from the trade first.

Is this the true first?

The census claim is confirmed. This is a US-only first — no UK or foreign-language edition precedes it, so there is no precedence question. The 1969 "New Edition, Revised and Greatly Enlarged" (University of Oklahoma Press, Norman; xxv, 808 pp; 2,491 entries — more than twice the first; LCCN 69-16729) is a different edition, not a later printing of the 1954, and is collected separately as the working reference; a dealer describing a 1969 or later copy as a "first edition" means first thus. Both the 1954 and the 1969 are legitimately collected, and a complete Adams shelf holds both.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition documented. Reprint tells, all of the 1969 revision rather than the 1954 first: the John T. Zubal, Inc. (Cleveland) 1982 reprint (xxv, 808 pp; ISBN 0-939738-06-6), catalogued by dealers as "first edition thus"; and the 1998 Dover Publications paperback (Mineola, N.Y.; xxiii, 808 pp; ISBN 0-486-40035-2; LCCN 97-49974), whose title-page verso states it is an unabridged republication of the 1969 Oklahoma edition. Any copy collating 808 pp, and any copy in wrappers, is not the 1954 first.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Six-Guns and Saddle Leather a first edition?

A first edition of Six-Guns and Saddle Leather by Ramon F. Adams (University of Oklahoma Press, Norman) is identified by: University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, 1954 — full title "Six-Guns and Saddle Leather: A Bibliography of Books and Pamphlets on Western Outlaws and Gunmen." LCCN 54-5939.

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

Check the copyright page. A number line whose lowest number is 1 marks a first printing (Random House ends at 2). The census claim is confirmed.

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

No book-club edition documented. Reprint tells, all of the 1969 revision rather than the 1954 first: the John T. Zubal, Inc. (Cleveland) 1982 reprint (xxv, 808 pp; ISBN 0-939738-06-6), catalogued by dealers as "first edition thus"; and the 1998 Dover Publications paperback (Mineola, N.Y.; xxiii, 808 pp; ISBN 0-486-40035-2; LCCN 97-49974), whose title-page verso states it is an unabridged republication of the 1969 Oklahoma edition. Any copy collating 808 pp, and any copy in wrappers, is not the 1

I have a first edition of Six-Guns and Saddle Leather — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap — an unclipped, priced jacket matters. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and use the free First Edition Checker to decode the printing. To sell, the author’s collecting guide covers the market. And if you are clearing books in the Albuquerque area, the New Mexico Literacy Project offers free pickup, any condition, and makes sure collectible copies are identified rather than discarded.

Glossary

First edition

Every copy printed from the first setting of type. Collectors usually want the first edition, first printing (the true first).

First printing / impression

A single press run from that setting. The first printing is the earliest and most desirable; later printings are still the first edition but not the true first.

Number line (printer's key)

A row of numbers on the copyright page (e.g. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1). The lowest number present is the printing — a line including 1 marks a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2).

Points of issue

Specific physical details — a stated edition, a number line, a typo, a jacket state — that identify the true first printing.

Book-club edition (BCE)

A reprint made for a book club. Tells include a blind-stamped dot or square on the rear board and a dust jacket with no printed price. Not the true first.

First thus

The first appearance of a particular version (first paperback, first illustrated, first U.S. printing) — a first of that kind, not the first edition of the work.