Is My Suddenly Last Summer a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Slim cloth volume in dust jacket
• New York, New Directions, 1958
• Issued as a standalone first edition, 90 pages, in maroon cloth with white spine lettering
• The first-issue dust jacket carries the printed price on the front flap and lists thirteen Williams titles on the rear flap, with the jacket art keyed to the 'Garden District' staging; the printed price should be present, though publishers' file copies are sometimes found flap-clipped
• A stated second printing exists and should not be confused with the first

How New Directions marked a first edition

• Modern paperbacks carry a descending number line; lowest digit (1) present indicates first printing.

Full New Directions 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 New Directions is the true first edition of the standalone play. The play premiered off-Broadway in January 1958 within the double bill Garden District, paired with the one-act Something Unspoken; the London Garden District collection (Secker and Warburg) followed in 1959. George W. Crandell's descriptive bibliography of Williams is the standard authority for confirming first-issue points.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book club edition.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Suddenly Last Summer a first edition?

A first edition of Suddenly Last Summer by Tennessee Williams (New Directions) is identified by: Slim cloth volume in dust jacket; New York, New Directions, 1958.

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 New Directions is the true first edition of the standalone play.

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

No book club edition.

I have a first edition of Suddenly Last Summer — what should I do?

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 lost. To sell, see the author’s collecting guide. Either way, nothing collectible ends up in a landfill.

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.