# Is "The Death of Jim Loney" by James Welch a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Death of Jim Loney by James Welch (Harper & Row, 1979) is identified by: The first printing carries the "FIRST EDITION" statement on the copyright page together with a complete number line ending in 1 — dealers describe first copies as "stated first edition with full number line." The number line governs, and this is the standing Harper trap: Harper & Row stated "First Edition" on the copyright page but frequently failed to strip that statement from later printings, so the statement alone does not prove a first. US-only true first: Harper & Row, New York, 1979 (ISBN 0-06-014588-9) — Welch's third book and second novel.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The first printing carries the "FIRST EDITION" statement on the copyright page together with a complete number line ending in 1 — dealers describe first copies as "stated first edition with full number line." The number line governs, and this is the standing Harper trap: Harper & Row stated "First Edition" on the copyright page but frequently failed to strip that statement from later printings, so the statement alone does not prove a first
- Harper added a number row in 1969, initially at the foot of the last page before the rear free endpaper; by 1975 the row was usually moved to the copyright page, so on a 1979 book expect it on the copyright page (Quill & Brush
- Physical points: 179 pp., octavo (about 21.5 cm), quarter dark-blue cloth over blue paper-covered boards with gilt-stamped spine lettering; illustrated color pictorial jacket with the price present at the front flap on unclipped copies
- An uncorrected proof in green printed wrappers is recorded and is uncommon
- No first-state text errors are documented
- Publisher imprint reads Harper & Row
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | James Welch |
| Publisher | Harper & Row |
| Year | 1979 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The first printing carries the "FIRST EDITION" statement on the copyright page together with a complete number line ending in 1 — dealers… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
The first printing carries the "FIRST EDITION" statement on the copyright page together with a complete number line ending in 1 — dealers describe first copies as "stated first edition with full number line." The number line governs, and this is the standing Harper trap: Harper & Row stated "First Edition" on the copyright page but frequently failed to strip that statement from later printings, so the statement alone does not prove a first. Harper added a number row in 1969, initially at the foot of the last page before the rear free endpaper; by 1975 the row was usually moved to the copyright page, so on a 1979 book expect it on the copyright page (Quill & Brush; ILAB). Physical points: 179 pp., octavo (about 21.5 cm), quarter dark-blue cloth over blue paper-covered boards with gilt-stamped spine lettering; illustrated color pictorial jacket with the price present at the front flap on unclipped copies. An uncorrected proof in green printed wrappers is recorded and is uncommon. No first-state text errors are documented.

## Is this the true first?
US-only true first: Harper & Row, New York, 1979 (ISBN 0-06-014588-9) — Welch's third book and second novel. No 1979 British edition was traced; the UK issue is the Penguin paperback (ISBN 0140102918, circa 1987) and is a reprint. The Harper Colophon/Perennial paperback (ISBN 0-06-080538-2) and the Penguin Classics edition (2008, with an introduction by Jim Harrison) are "first thus" reprints. Only the 1979 Harper & Row hardcover is the first.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue is documented for this title in the sources consulted. If a copy turns up without a price at the jacket flap, with a blind stamp or deboss at the lower rear board, or on smaller trim, treat it as a club copy regardless of any "First Edition" statement — the Harper practice of leaving the statement in place makes the number line and the physical tells the only reliable evidence.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Death of Jim Loney* by James Welch a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-death-of-jim-loney
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.