# Is "The Potter's House" by Wallace Stegner a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Potter's House by Wallace Stegner (Prairie Press, 1938) is identified by: The Prairie Press (Muscatine, Iowa) fine-press first edition, limited to 490 copies; octavo, roughly 75 pages, letterpress printed in black and red with decorative initials and red page numbers; publisher's cloth, originally in a glassine wrapper. True first edition; Stegner's second book and the scarcest of his regularly published titles, issued only in this limited fine-press form.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The Prairie Press (Muscatine, Iowa) fine-press first edition, limited to 490 copies; octavo, roughly 75 pages, letterpress printed in black and red with decorative initials and red page numbers; publisher's cloth, originally in a glassine wrapper
- Designed and printed by Carroll D. Coleman
- Publisher imprint reads Prairie Press
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Wallace Stegner |
| Publisher | Prairie Press |
| Year | 1938 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The Prairie Press (Muscatine, Iowa) fine-press first edition, limited to 490 copies… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
The Prairie Press (Muscatine, Iowa) fine-press first edition, limited to 490 copies; octavo, roughly 75 pages, letterpress printed in black and red with decorative initials and red page numbers; publisher's cloth, originally in a glassine wrapper. Designed and printed by Carroll D. Coleman.

## Is this the true first?
True first edition; Stegner's second book and the scarcest of his regularly published titles, issued only in this limited fine-press form.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition; fine-press limited item.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Potter's House* by Wallace Stegner a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-potters-house
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-03.