Is My Sons a First Edition?

The points of issue

• New York: The John Day Company, 1932
• The trade first printing is stated, and the wording is unusual and specific: the copyright page reads "First Trade Edition, September, 1932." It says "trade" because a signed limited issue was also published in 1932 (dealer-recorded copies are numbered on a limitation page out of 371 and signed by Buck), so the trade sheets are designated first trade edition rather than first edition
• A second printing followed in the same month, September 1932, and is noted on the copyright page — John Day's practice in the 1930s was to leave firsts unmarked or to state "First Published (month, year)" and to note all subsequent printings, so any printing notation other than the first-trade-edition line rules a copy out
• Octavo (21 cm), 467 pp
• Light-brown/tan cloth with gilt and blind stamping to the front board and spine, red topstain, deckled fore-edge, red pictorial endpapers
• Pictorial jacket with the price present at the flap

How to confirm the first-printing statement

Publishers stated first printings differently by era. The decisive tells are a printed “First Edition/First Printing” statement, a number line whose lowest number is 1 (Random House ends at 2), or a dated first printing with no later printings listed. Paste your copyright page into the number-line decoder.

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. Check for a number line or dated printing — the lowest number present is the printing; a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the tell.
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?

US John Day (New York) 1932 is the true first — the second volume of the House of Earth trilogy, following The Good Earth (John Day, 1931). The census claim is confirmed. The first UK edition is Methuen & Co. Ltd, London, 1932, stating "First published in Great Britain 1932" on the copyright page, in brown boards with an embossed front cover and black lettering and design on the spine. Both are collected and both are dated 1932, but the Methuen is the British-territory issue of an American book from Buck's home publisher and follows John Day; describe them as "first US" and "first UK" rather than treating the same year as a tie. Within the American issue, the signed limited precedes the trade issue in the collecting hierarchy — the trade copy is the first trade edition, not the first edition outright.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue of the 1932 John Day printing is documented in the sources consulted. The operative tell is the printing statement: because a second printing appeared in September 1932 as well, a copy lacking the "First Trade Edition, September, 1932" line is not the first trade issue regardless of the 1932 date on the title page. A separate signed-copy trap: the John Day "Selected Works" set (eleven volumes, limited to 1,000, each signed on a limitation page, issued for Buck's eightieth birthday in 1972) is a late signed reprint and is sometimes mistaken for an early signed first.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Sons a first edition?

A first edition of Sons by Pearl S. Buck (The John Day Company) is identified by: New York: The John Day Company, 1932.

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

Check the copyright page. A stated first edition, a number line ending in 1, or a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the key. US John Day (New York) 1932 is the true first — the second volume of the House of Earth trilogy, following The Good Earth (John Day, 1931).

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

No book-club issue of the 1932 John Day printing is documented in the sources consulted. The operative tell is the printing statement: because a second printing appeared in September 1932 as well, a copy lacking the "First Trade Edition, September, 1932" line is not the first trade issue regardless of the 1932 date on the title page. A separate signed-copy trap: the John Day "Selected Works" set (eleven volumes, limited to 1,000, each signed on a limitation page, issued for Buck's eightieth birt

I have a first edition of Sons — 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.