# Is "The Civil War: A Narrative (Vol. 1, Fort Sumter to Perryville)" by Shelby Foote a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Civil War: A Narrative (Vol. 1, Fort Sumter to Perryville) by Shelby Foote (Random House, 1958) is identified by: First printing states 'FIRST PRINTING' on the copyright page (removed on later printings), per Random House practice of the period. US-only true first: Random House, New York — Vol.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First printing states 'FIRST PRINTING' on the copyright page (removed on later printings), per Random House practice of the period
- Volume I is in publisher's cloth with the spine tan and gray, lettered in red and black, top edge stained, and cartographic endpapers; the 141 maps were drawn by George Annand
- The first-state dust jacket is priced (price present at the flap) and carries the code '11/58' at the flap; publisher-signed sets have a blank leaf tipped in between the half-title and title page
- Publisher imprint reads Random House
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Shelby Foote |
| Publisher | Random House |
| Year | 1958 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First printing states 'FIRST PRINTING' on the copyright page (removed on later printings), per Random House practice of the period |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First printing states 'FIRST PRINTING' on the copyright page (removed on later printings), per Random House practice of the period. Volume I is in publisher's cloth with the spine tan and gray, lettered in red and black, top edge stained, and cartographic endpapers; the 141 maps were drawn by George Annand. The first-state dust jacket is priced (price present at the flap) and carries the code '11/58' at the flap; publisher-signed sets have a blank leaf tipped in between the half-title and title page.

## Is this the true first?
US-only true first: Random House, New York — Vol. 1 (Fort Sumter to Perryville) 1958, Vol. 2 (Fredericksburg to Meridian) 1963, Vol. 3 (Red River to Appomattox) 1974. No UK precedence issue; the collectible object is the matched trilogy in first printings, each with its own dated first-state priced jacket.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Distinguish the 1958 first printing (states 'FIRST PRINTING') from later Random House printings that keep the 1958 date but drop the statement, and from the ubiquitous Vintage Civil War Library paperbacks. Signed later-printing copies exist and are not first printings.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Civil War: A Narrative (Vol. 1, Fort Sumter to Perryville)* by Shelby Foote a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-civil-war-a-narrative-vol-1-fort-sumter-to-perryville
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.