Is My The Delight Makers a First Edition?

The points of issue

• New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1890, collating xvii, 490 pages, bound in publisher's cloth
• This is Bandelier's only novel -- a fictionalized ethnographic reconstruction of prehistoric Pueblo life at Rito de los Frijoles (in what is now Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico) that grew directly out of his archaeological fieldwork for the Archaeological Institute of America
• The true 1890 first edition carries only Bandelier's own preface and does not include an introduction by Charles F. Lummis

How Dodd, Mead and Company marked a first edition

• Prior to 1976: firsts have NO additional printings listed on the copyright page (no number line, no later-printing notice).
• Late 1976 onward: a sequence of numbers on the copyright page with '1' present indicates the first printing.

Full Dodd, Mead and Company 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. 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.
5. 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.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Editions catalogued or advertised as including "an introduction by Charles F. Lummis" are later printings -- library and archive catalog records consistently list the Lummis-introduction text as a separate edition from the plain 1890 Dodd, Mead first (a scan of the Lummis-introduction text is dated 1916); 20th-century reprints from Rio Grande Press, Sunstone Press, and the University of New Mexico Press are likewise later than the true first.P-035421

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Delight Makers a first edition?

A first edition of The Delight Makers by Adolph F. Bandelier (Dodd, Mead and Company) is identified by: New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1890, collating xvii, 490 pages, bound in publisher's cloth.

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.

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

Editions catalogued or advertised as including "an introduction by Charles F. Lummis" are later printings -- library and archive catalog records consistently list the Lummis-introduction text as a separate edition from the plain 1890 Dodd, Mead first (a scan of the Lummis-introduction text is dated 1916); 20th-century reprints from Rio Grande Press, Sunstone Press, and the University of New Mexico Press are likewise later than the true first.

I have a first edition of The Delight Makers — 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.