# Is "The Hunger and Other Stories" by Charles Beaumont a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Hunger and Other Stories by Charles Beaumont (G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1957) is identified by: Beaumont's first book, published April 1957; seventeen stories, of which eight are printed here for the first time (including "The Crooked Man"). US first: G.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Beaumont's first book, published April 1957; seventeen stories, of which eight are printed here for the first time (including "The Crooked Man")
- Octavo, 234 pages
- L. W. Currey records no statement of printing on the copyright page — the first printing is therefore identified negatively, by the Putnam's imprint and 1957 date with nothing added, and any copy carrying a later-printing statement is ruled out
- Bound in grey cloth-grain paper-covered boards with the spine lettered in blue and white; note that dealer descriptions of the board colour vary and at least one ABAA dealer records navy cloth, so treat the grey/blue-and-white description as the predominant but not universal reading
- The pictorial dust jacket is by Ronald Clyne and carries a printed price at the front flap
- Publisher imprint reads G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Charles Beaumont |
| Publisher | G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York |
| Year | 1957 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Beaumont's first book, published April 1957; seventeen stories, of which eight are printed here for the first time (including "The Crooked… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Beaumont's first book, published April 1957; seventeen stories, of which eight are printed here for the first time (including "The Crooked Man"). Octavo, 234 pages. L. W. Currey records no statement of printing on the copyright page — the first printing is therefore identified negatively, by the Putnam's imprint and 1957 date with nothing added, and any copy carrying a later-printing statement is ruled out. Bound in grey cloth-grain paper-covered boards with the spine lettered in blue and white; note that dealer descriptions of the board colour vary and at least one ABAA dealer records navy cloth, so treat the grey/blue-and-white description as the predominant but not universal reading. The pictorial dust jacket is by Ronald Clyne and carries a printed price at the front flap.

## Is this the true first?
US first: G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, April 1957 — the true first and Beaumont's first book. There was no contemporary British hardcover. The UK edition came seven years later, retitled Shadow Play (1964, reported as a Panther paperback), which is a retitled reprint and not a first — the retitle is the main precedence trap for this book. The Valancourt Books edition (2013) is a "first thus" reprint, described by its publisher as the first new edition in roughly half a century.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club printing is documented in the ABAA dealer or auction descriptions consulted. Later Putnam printings are separated from the first by an added printing statement on the copyright page. The commonest mis-sale is the retitled UK Shadow Play (1964) offered as an edition of The Hunger.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Hunger and Other Stories* by Charles Beaumont a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-hunger-and-other-stories
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.