# Is "Sweet Thursday" by John Steinbeck a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Sweet Thursday by John Steinbeck (The Viking Press, New York, 1954) is identified by: The first printing carries the copyright-page statement "First published by the Viking Press in June 1954" together with a Colonial Press printer's colophon; the title page is printed with red rules/lettering and the top edge is stained red. US Viking Press, New York, June 1954 is the true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The first printing carries the copyright-page statement "First published by the Viking Press in June 1954" together with a Colonial Press printer's colophon; the title page is printed with red rules/lettering and the top edge is stained red
- Binding is pale olive cloth-covered boards (described by some dealers as tan) lettered in red with blue bird decoration, collating x, 273pp
- The first-issue jacket carries Steinbeck's portrait on the rear panel with NO review blurbs beneath it, and the price is present at the front flap; the second-state jacket adds blurbs under the author photograph, so blurbs on the rear panel rule out a first-issue wrapper
- The red top stain and red on the title page must both be present
- Publisher imprint reads The Viking Press, New York
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | John Steinbeck |
| Publisher | The Viking Press, New York |
| Year | 1954 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The first printing carries the copyright-page statement "First published by the Viking Press in June 1954" together with a Colonial Press… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
The first printing carries the copyright-page statement "First published by the Viking Press in June 1954" together with a Colonial Press printer's colophon; the title page is printed with red rules/lettering and the top edge is stained red. Binding is pale olive cloth-covered boards (described by some dealers as tan) lettered in red with blue bird decoration, collating x, 273pp. The first-issue jacket carries Steinbeck's portrait on the rear panel with NO review blurbs beneath it, and the price is present at the front flap; the second-state jacket adds blurbs under the author photograph, so blurbs on the rear panel rule out a first-issue wrapper. The red top stain and red on the title page must both be present.

## Is this the true first?
US Viking Press, New York, June 1954 is the true first. The first UK edition — William Heinemann, London, 1954 (viii, 264pp, jacket illustrated by Paul Galdone) — appeared later the same year; it is collected as the first English edition but does not precede. First-thus trap: the Penguin Classics issue with Robert DeMott's introduction and notes is a modern reprint, not a first.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Book-club copies lack the red top stain, show no color on the title page, and carry no colophon or printer statement on the copyright page; fedpo additionally records a small red ink dot at the lower right corner of the rear board. Club jackets have no price at the flap. An early Viking-printed club issue dated 30 September 1954 exists — roughly three months after the trade first — so a 1954 date on its own proves nothing.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Sweet Thursday* by John Steinbeck a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/sweet-thursday
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.