Is My Tender Is the Night a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The first printing carries the Scribner's capital 'A' together with the publisher's seal on the copyright page beneath the 1934 imprint
• The book was published April 12, 1934, after serialization in Scribner's Magazine in four installments (January through April 1934)
• Bound in publisher's dark green cloth (linen-grain), the front board blind-stamped and the spine lettered in gilt
• The first-issue dust jacket bears blurbs by T. S. Eliot, H. L. Mencken, and Paul Rosenfeld on the front flap and retains its printed price; the Eliot blurb was famously used without his prior permission
• This first-issue text precedes the later posthumous reordering of the narrative into chronological sequence

How Charles Scribner's Sons marked a first edition

• The famous capital 'A' on the copyright page denotes a first printing. Introduced late 1929 and used 1930-1973.

Full Charles Scribner's Sons 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?

The US Scribner's 1934 'A' first is the true first. There is no signed or limited trade issue; the jacketed 'A' first is the landmark, and the original first-issue jacket with the Eliot/Mencken/Rosenfeld blurbs is the desirable state.P-009197

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Later Scribner's printings drop the 'A' and the seal from the copyright page; book-club copies are blind-stamped, lack the 'A' and seal, and do not carry the priced first-issue jacket.P-009198

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Tender Is the Night a first edition?

A first edition of Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald (Charles Scribner's Sons) is identified by: The first printing carries the Scribner's capital 'A' together with the publisher's seal on the copyright page beneath the 1934 imprint.

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. The US Scribner's 1934 'A' first is the true first.

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

Later Scribner's printings drop the 'A' and the seal from the copyright page; book-club copies are blind-stamped, lack the 'A' and seal, and do not carry the priced first-issue jacket.

I have a first edition of Tender Is the Night — 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.