# Is "The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty" by Eudora Welty a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty by Eudora Welty (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1980) is identified by: The trade first edition states "First edition" with a full number line and carries a first-state dust jacket priced 20.00. US Harcourt Brace Jovanovich first edition; first-thus collected gathering.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Two distinct issues
- The trade first edition states "First edition" with a full number line and carries a first-state dust jacket priced 20.00
- The signed limited edition of 500 copies is individually numbered, bound in burgundy cloth, signed by Welty, and issued in a publisher's slipcase WITHOUT a dust jacket (none was issued for the limited)
- Publisher imprint reads Harcourt Brace Jovanovich
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Eudora Welty |
| Publisher | Harcourt Brace Jovanovich |
| Year | 1980 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Two distinct issues |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
Two distinct issues. The trade first edition states "First edition" with a full number line and carries a first-state dust jacket priced 20.00. The signed limited edition of 500 copies is individually numbered, bound in burgundy cloth, signed by Welty, and issued in a publisher's slipcase WITHOUT a dust jacket (none was issued for the limited).

## Is this the true first?
US Harcourt Brace Jovanovich first edition; first-thus collected gathering. The signed limited (500 copies, slipcased) is the premium issue and was issued alongside the trade printing, not the trade jacket.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Book club issues lack the number line and the priced first-state jacket. Do not look for a dust jacket on the signed limited — it was issued in a slipcase only, so a jacketed copy of the limited would be a mismatch.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty* by Eudora Welty a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-collected-stories-of-eudora-welty
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.