# Is "The Big Clock" by Kenneth Fearing a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Big Clock by Kenneth Fearing (Harcourt, Brace, 1946) is identified by: True first is the 1946 Harcourt, Brace and Company HARDCOVER, New York, octavo, 175 pages, with 'first edition' stated on the copyright page. Caution: the US Harcourt, Brace hardcover (1946) precedes the first UK edition (The Bodley Head, London, 1947) and all paperback and NYRB reprints.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- True first is the 1946 Harcourt, Brace and Company HARDCOVER, New York, octavo, 175 pages, with 'first edition' stated on the copyright page
- Binding is black cloth with the title stamped in gilt on the spine
- The first-issue dust jacket carries the original printed price on the front flap (should be present and unclipped); spine-panel color fading is common to this jacket
- An abridged version had appeared as 'The Judas Picture' in The American Magazine (October 1946), but the Harcourt hardcover is the true first book appearance
- Not a paperback original
- Publisher imprint reads Harcourt, Brace
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Kenneth Fearing |
| Publisher | Harcourt, Brace |
| Year | 1946 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | True first is the 1946 Harcourt, Brace and Company HARDCOVER, New York, octavo, 175 pages, with 'first edition' stated on the copyright page |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
True first is the 1946 Harcourt, Brace and Company HARDCOVER, New York, octavo, 175 pages, with 'first edition' stated on the copyright page. Binding is black cloth with the title stamped in gilt on the spine. The first-issue dust jacket carries the original printed price on the front flap (should be present and unclipped); spine-panel color fading is common to this jacket. An abridged version had appeared as 'The Judas Picture' in The American Magazine (October 1946), but the Harcourt hardcover is the true first book appearance. Not a paperback original.

## Is this the true first?
Caution: the US Harcourt, Brace hardcover (1946) precedes the first UK edition (The Bodley Head, London, 1947) and all paperback and NYRB reprints. Mass-market editions are first-thus only.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Distinguish the Harcourt hardcover first, with 'first edition' stated on the copyright page, from book-club printings, the 1947 Bodley Head UK first, and later paperback and NYRB reissues.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Big Clock* by Kenneth Fearing a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-big-clock
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.