# Is "The Power of Positive Thinking" by Norman Vincent Peale a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale (Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1952) is identified by: True first: Prentice-Hall, Inc., New York, 1952 (published October 1952), bound in blue paper-covered boards lettered in white on the front board and spine, in a pictorial dust jacket, priced at the front flap (price present, unclipped). US first (Prentice-Hall, New York, 1952) is the true first and the only edition collected as such; there is no UK or foreign-language precedence issue.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- True first: Prentice-Hall, Inc., New York, 1952 (published October 1952), bound in blue paper-covered boards lettered in white on the front board and spine, in a pictorial dust jacket, priced at the front flap (price present, unclipped)
- Prentice-Hall used no number line on this title, so the first printing is identified negatively: the copyright page bears the 1952 copyright with NO statement of any additional or later printing, and the jacket carries no later-printing or award additions
- The tell is an absence-of-statement point corroborated by two independent dealer catalog descriptions (Burnside Rare Books
- Bagatelle Books); the book was reprinted heavily and reprints add a printing statement to the copyright page
- Publisher imprint reads Prentice-Hall, Inc.
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Norman Vincent Peale |
| Publisher | Prentice-Hall, Inc. |
| Year | 1952 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | True first: Prentice-Hall, Inc., New York, 1952 (published October 1952), bound in blue paper-covered boards lettered in white on the front… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
True first: Prentice-Hall, Inc., New York, 1952 (published October 1952), bound in blue paper-covered boards lettered in white on the front board and spine, in a pictorial dust jacket, priced at the front flap (price present, unclipped). Prentice-Hall used no number line on this title, so the first printing is identified negatively: the copyright page bears the 1952 copyright with NO statement of any additional or later printing, and the jacket carries no later-printing or award additions. The tell is an absence-of-statement point corroborated by two independent dealer catalog descriptions (Burnside Rare Books; Bagatelle Books); the book was reprinted heavily and reprints add a printing statement to the copyright page.

## Is this the true first?
US first (Prentice-Hall, New York, 1952) is the true first and the only edition collected as such; there is no UK or foreign-language precedence issue. Chief trap: Prentice-Hall retained the 'First Edition' slug on the copyright page while adding a printing number, so copies stated 'First Edition' can in fact be later printings (e.g., 'First Edition, Fourteenth Printing' copies exist) — a stated first edition alone does not equal first printing.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No documented contemporaneous first-year book-club issue is the common pitfall here; instead the trap is the very large number of Prentice-Hall printings that keep the 'First Edition' wording. Any copy whose copyright page names a printing after the first is a reprint.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Power of Positive Thinking* by Norman Vincent Peale a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-power-of-positive-thinking
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.