Is My The Great Plains a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First printing is identified by the first-issue typographical error "poo" for "poor" in the Chapter II summary on page 10 — the point cited by the standard Americana bibliographies, and independently corroborated by an ABAA dealer who describes later printings within the first edition as being "with type correction." Ginn also printed a house code that separates the printings; first printings are recorded with the code 631.7, but sources disagree on its placement (one dealer cites the copyright page, another the title leaf), so read the page-10 typo first and treat the code as a cross-check only
• Collation: octavo (approx
• 8 9/16 in.), 525 pp., with maps, drawings and illustrations; bound in black cloth over boards, titles and a buffalo-herd vignette printed in silver
• Scarce in the original jacket — facsimile jackets are supplied by at least one specialist and are sold as facsimiles, so confirm any jacket is original rather than a supplied reproduction

How Ginn and Company marked a first edition

• 1876-1885 (Ginn & Heath / Ginn, Heath & Co.): same convention, after Daniel Collamore Heath joined in 1876. An 'edition' or 'Revised Edition' statement, when present, indicates a later issue.
• 1885 onward (Ginn & Company): textbooks frequently carry stacked copyright accretions; the earliest single copyright year with no added later copyrights and no 'revised' note marks the first printing. From 1895 the Athen…

Full Ginn 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. 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 Ginn and Company, Boston, 1931 is the true first, issued by a textbook house rather than a trade publisher — the census claim is correct. No UK edition or competing foreign first is recorded. Later Ginn (1959) and Blaisdell Publishing (Waltham, 1959) issues are the textbook house's own reprints, and the University of Nebraska Press edition (Lincoln, 1981) is a "first thus" with new front matter.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Grosset & Dunlap (New York) issued a reprint carrying the same 1931 date and the same 525-page setting under the G&D imprint — the most common trap; identify by the spine and title-page imprint, never by the date alone. Grosset also issued the text in its Universal Library paperback line. Grosset & Dunlap 1957 and 1971, Ginn 1959 and Blaisdell 1959 are all later.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Great Plains a first edition?

A first edition of The Great Plains by Walter Prescott Webb (Ginn and Company) is identified by: First printing is identified by the first-issue typographical error "poo" for "poor" in the Chapter II summary on page 10 — the point cited by the standard Americana bibliographies, and independently corroborated by an ABAA dealer who describes later printings within the first edition as being "with type correction." Ginn also printed a house code that separates the printings; first printings are recorded with the code 631.7, but sources disagree on its placement (one dealer cites the copyright…

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 Ginn and Company, Boston, 1931 is the true first, issued by a textbook house rather than a trade publisher — the census claim is correct.

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

Grosset & Dunlap (New York) issued a reprint carrying the same 1931 date and the same 525-page setting under the G&D imprint — the most common trap; identify by the spine and title-page imprint, never by the date alone. Grosset also issued the text in its Universal Library paperback line. Grosset & Dunlap 1957 and 1971, Ginn 1959 and Blaisdell 1959 are all later.

I have a first edition of The Great Plains — 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.