# Is "The Joy of Cooking (first trade edition)" by Irma S. Rombauer a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Joy of Cooking (first trade edition) by Irma S. Rombauer (The Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1936) is identified by: Expanded Bobbs-Merrill edition of roughly 628 pages; first printing of 10,000 copies, released May 1, 1936. This is the first Bobbs-Merrill (trade) edition and the earliest widely available form, but it is subordinate in precedence to the true first: the 1931 privately printed edition (printed by A.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Expanded Bobbs-Merrill edition of roughly 628 pages; first printing of 10,000 copies, released May 1, 1936
- The copyright page reads 'Copyright 1931, 1936' with NO printing line and no printing number — later printings ADD a notation (e.g. a '4th' or '5th Printing' line), so the ABSENCE of any printing statement is the primary first-printing tell
- No 'First Edition' slug is used on this title
- Bound in yellow/orange plaid (basket-weave) cloth titled in brown; a blue basket-weave binding indicates a later 1938-39 printing, not the first
- Jacket art (St
- Martha of Bethany subduing the tarasque — a symbol of kitchen drudgery) and interior illustrations by Irma's daughter, Marion Rombauer Becker
- Publisher imprint reads The Bobbs-Merrill Company

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Irma S. Rombauer |
| Publisher | The Bobbs-Merrill Company |
| Year | 1936 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Expanded Bobbs-Merrill edition of roughly 628 pages; first printing of 10,000 copies, released May 1, 1936 |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Expanded Bobbs-Merrill edition of roughly 628 pages; first printing of 10,000 copies, released May 1, 1936. The copyright page reads 'Copyright 1931, 1936' with NO printing line and no printing number — later printings ADD a notation (e.g. a '4th' or '5th Printing' line), so the ABSENCE of any printing statement is the primary first-printing tell. No 'First Edition' slug is used on this title. Bound in yellow/orange plaid (basket-weave) cloth titled in brown; a blue basket-weave binding indicates a later 1938-39 printing, not the first. Jacket art (St. Martha of Bethany subduing the tarasque — a symbol of kitchen drudgery) and interior illustrations by Irma's daughter, Marion Rombauer Becker. First-state dust jacket carries the higher original flap price, reduced on the next jacket state; the price should be present and not clipped.

## Is this the true first?
This is the first Bobbs-Merrill (trade) edition and the earliest widely available form, but it is subordinate in precedence to the true first: the 1931 privately printed edition (printed by A. C. Clayton Printing Co., St. Louis; about 3,000 copies; blue pebbled cloth, gilt-lettered; 395 pp; full title 'The Joy of Cooking: A Compilation of Reliable Recipes with a Casual Culinary Chat'). First state of the 1936 is established by the higher first-state flap price together with the absence of any later-printing notation on the copyright page.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Because this title bears no 'First Edition' statement, rely on the 'Copyright 1931, 1936' string plus the absence of a printing line; later Bobbs-Merrill printings ADD a printing notation and carry their own (often different) flap prices, so price alone is not decisive for later states. Beware the 1998 Scribner 'Joy of Cooking 1931 Facsimile Edition' (ISBN 9780684833583, ~448 pp, with an added foreword by Edgar Rombauer): it reproduces the 1931 private first but is plainly identified by its modern ISBN, 1998 copyright, and Scribner imprint. Numerous mid-century Bobbs-Merrill reprints also exist.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Joy of Cooking (first trade edition)* by Irma S. Rombauer a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-joy-of-cooking-first-trade-edition
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.