Is My Copy of The Missions of New Mexico, 1776 a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The first edition is the University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, copyright 1956 printing: xxi, 387 pages, illustrated, with maps (one folding) and facsimiles, 28 cm, recorded by the Library of Congress under card number 55-12223 (call number F799.D64)
• The copyright page reads "Copyright University of New Mexico Press 1956, All Rights Reserved" with the Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 55-12223 and carries no edition statement and no later-printing line, so the working test is the 1956 copyright with no printing statement and no ISBN. The full title is The Missions of New Mexico, 1776: A Description by Fray Francisco Atanasio Domínguez, with Other Contemporary Documents, translated and annotated by Eleanor B. Adams and Fray Angélico Chávez, with drawings by Horace T. Pierce
• The title page is printed in red and black, with the title and a seal device in red
• A color plate of the reredos of Our Lady of Light, 1776, is tipped in as the frontispiece, and the front panel of the jacket notes forty-four illustrations
• The leaf after the copyright page carries the printed dedication "France Vinton Scholes, His Book"; it appears in every copy and honors the historian, so it is not an ownership mark
• The copy examined for this entry is bound in pale linen-grain cloth, in a jacket printed in red, black and cream with a line drawing of a mission church on the front panel, and the front flap carries the printed price

The first edition, photographed

A first edition at the New Mexico Literacy Project desk in Albuquerque, showing the points listed above: the jacket, the color frontispiece and title page, the 1956 copyright page and the printed dedication.

Photos: Josh Eldred, October 2026. Original desk photography at the New Mexico Literacy Project, Albuquerque, NM.

How University of New Mexico Press marked a first edition

• ISBN prefix 978-0-8263
• Negative-evidence (no later-printing language) on pre-1970 titles

Full University of New Mexico Press 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?

The 1956 University of New Mexico Press printing is the true first edition of this translation. It is a US first, published in Albuquerque, and no earlier edition of the translation exists.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition is documented. Reprint tells: the University of New Mexico Press reissued the book in 1975 with an ISBN (0-8263-0373-0), and dealers describe a 1975 bicentennial limited issue, numbered and signed by Adams and Chávez, bound in three-quarter leather and housed in a slipcase; treat those limited-issue details as dealer-reported. Sunstone Press of Santa Fe reprinted the book in 2012 (ISBN 978-0-86534-869-1), noting that it was originally published by the University of New Mexico Press in 1956, and print-on-demand reprints appeared in 2021. Any ISBN, a 1975 date, or a Sunstone or print-on-demand imprint rules out the first edition. Do not confuse it with John L. Kessell's separate book, The Missions of New Mexico Since 1776 (University of New Mexico Press, 1980).

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Missions of New Mexico, 1776 a first edition?

A first edition of The Missions of New Mexico, 1776 by Francisco Atanasio Domínguez (University of New Mexico Press) is identified by: The first edition is the University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, copyright 1956 printing: xxi, 387 pages, illustrated, with maps (one folding) and facsimiles, 28 cm, recorded by the Library of Congress under card number 55-12223 (call number F799.D64).

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. The 1956 University of New Mexico Press printing is the true first edition of this translation.

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

No book-club edition is documented. Reprint tells: the University of New Mexico Press reissued the book in 1975 with an ISBN (0-8263-0373-0), and dealers describe a 1975 bicentennial limited issue, numbered and signed by Adams and Chávez, bound in three-quarter leather and housed in a slipcase; treat those limited-issue details as dealer-reported. Sunstone Press of Santa Fe reprinted the book in 2012 (ISBN 978-0-86534-869-1), noting that it was originally published by the University of New Mexic

I have a first edition of The Missions of New Mexico, 1776 — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and decode the printing with the free First Edition Checker. Clearing out books? I take them as a free donation and make sure collectible copies are identified, not discarded: free pickup in the Albuquerque metro (scheduled by route), the 24/7 drop box at 5445 Edith Blvd NE, or donor-paid mail-in from anywhere in the US. Questions? Call or text 505-250-3804.

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.