Is My The City of Trembling Leaves a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First printings state "First Printing" on the copyright page
• Random House used a stated first-printing line and simply removed it for later printings, so an unstated 1945 Random House copy is a subsequent printing — dealers catalog exactly such copies as second printings
• Collation is octavo, [xii] plus 690 pages
• The binding is light green to light olive cloth with the spine stamped in gilt and teal, and a green-tinted top stain that commonly fades (one outlying description calls the cloth tan with a blue top edge, so compare against the corroborated light green/olive before rejecting a copy)
• The pictorial publisher's jacket carries an author biography on the rear panel and the price at the flap; unclipped copies retain the flap price

How Random House marked a first edition

• Stated-edition era (c.1936–1975): trade first printings are plainly marked with the words 'First Edition' (or, on some earlier titles, 'First Printing') on the copyright page, with NO number line yet in use; a copyright…
• Divisional practice — share the STATEMENT, not the '2'-line: sister divisions state 'First Edition' as their firsts (Alfred A. Knopf consistently since 1933–34; Pantheon since 1964), so the words work across the family.…

Full Random House 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-only first: Random House, New York, 1945 — the census claim is correct, and no UK edition precedes it in the records consulted. Written in English, so no original-language precedence question arises. The University of Nevada Press reissue in its Western Literature series is a modern reprint, not a competing first, and does not affect precedence.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

The critical trap is the Sun Dial Press reprint of 1946. Sun Dial was a reprint house that worked from the original publisher's plates, so its reprints can reproduce the original copyright page verbatim — "First Printing" statement and all — which means the copyright page alone will not settle the question on this title. Confirm the Random House imprint on the title page and at the foot of the spine; a Sun Dial Press imprint in either place means a reprint, not a first.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The City of Trembling Leaves a first edition?

A first edition of The City of Trembling Leaves by Walter Van Tilburg Clark (Random House) is identified by: First printings state "First Printing" on the copyright page; Random House used a stated first-printing line and simply removed it for later printings, so an unstated 1945 Random House copy is a subsequent printing — dealers catalog exactly such copies as second printings.

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-only first: Random House, New York, 1945 — the census claim is correct, and no UK edition precedes it in the records consulted.

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

The critical trap is the Sun Dial Press reprint of 1946. Sun Dial was a reprint house that worked from the original publisher's plates, so its reprints can reproduce the original copyright page verbatim — "First Printing" statement and all — which means the copyright page alone will not settle the question on this title. Confirm the Random House imprint on the title page and at the foot of the spine; a Sun Dial Press imprint in either place means a reprint, not a first.

I have a first edition of The City of Trembling Leaves — 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.