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

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Joy of Cooking (privately printed first edition) by Irma S. Rombauer (A. C. Clayton Printing Co., 1931) is identified by: Self-published in an edition of roughly 3,000 copies. This 1931 private printing is the genuine first edition and is exceedingly scarce.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Self-published in an edition of roughly 3,000 copies
- Printed by A. C. Clayton Printing Co. of St
- Louis (a label printer that had never before printed a book), with no further printings noted
- Cover and chapter-head silhouettes designed by the author's daughter Marion Rombauer, the cover depicting St
- Martha of Bethany subduing a tarasque
- Publisher imprint reads A. C. Clayton Printing Co.
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Irma S. Rombauer |
| Publisher | A. C. Clayton Printing Co. |
| Year | 1931 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Self-published in an edition of roughly 3,000 copies |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Self-published in an edition of roughly 3,000 copies. Printed by A. C. Clayton Printing Co. of St. Louis (a label printer that had never before printed a book), with no further printings noted. Cover and chapter-head silhouettes designed by the author's daughter Marion Rombauer, the cover depicting St. Martha of Bethany subduing a tarasque.

## Is this the true first?
This 1931 private printing is the genuine first edition and is exceedingly scarce. The 1936 Bobbs-Merrill 'First Trade Edition' is a distinct, far more common book often misdescribed as 'the' first; note precedence carefully.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Any copy bearing the Bobbs-Merrill imprint is NOT the 1931 private first. Later Bobbs-Merrill printings add printing data and revised pagination.

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