Is My Stilwell and the American Experience in China, 1911-45 a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First printing from The Macmillan Company (New York), 1971, running to 621 pages
• Bound in black cloth boards with silver spine lettering, with a map printed to the endpapers and a section of black-and-white photographic plates plus full-page maps within
• The copyright page carries Macmillan's first-printing statement
• The first-state dust jacket, designed by Robert Galster, retains the printed price on the front flap

How The Macmillan Company marked a first edition

• FIRM SPLIT FIRST — this is the master rule. 'Macmillan' is not one publisher. The London parent was founded in 1843 by Daniel and Alexander Macmillan; George Edward Brett opened the New York office in 1869; in 1896 the f…
• US Macmillan, post-1979 (number-line era): after a gradual 1970s rollout, from 1979 onward apply the standard number-line test — the digit '1' MUST be present in the sequence (e.g., 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1) for a first prin…

Full The Macmillan Company 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. 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 edition from The Macmillan Company (New York) is the true first. The UK edition appeared as 'Sand Against the Wind: Stilwell and the American Experience in China' (Macmillan, London); the US issue under the 'Stilwell' title is the precedent text. Won the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction (Tuchman's second) in 1972.P-002685

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

A Book-of-the-Month Club issue exists and is easily mistaken for the trade first, as it can carry the same first-printing wording; club copies lack the printed jacket price and typically show a small blind-stamp (dot or square) on the lower rear board. Later trade printings are stated as such on the copyright page.P-002686

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Stilwell and the American Experience in China, 1911-45 a first edition?

A first edition of Stilwell and the American Experience in China, 1911-45 by Barbara W. Tuchman (The Macmillan Company) is identified by: First printing from The Macmillan Company (New York), 1971, running to 621 pages.

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 edition from The Macmillan Company (New York) is the true first.

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

A Book-of-the-Month Club issue exists and is easily mistaken for the trade first, as it can carry the same first-printing wording; club copies lack the printed jacket price and typically show a small blind-stamp (dot or square) on the lower rear board. Later trade printings are stated as such on the copyright page.

I have a first edition of Stilwell and the American Experience in China, 1911-45 — 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.