# Is "The Red Badge of Courage: An Episode of the American Civil War" by Stephen Crane a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Red Badge of Courage: An Episode of the American Civil War by Stephen Crane (D. Appleton & Co., 1895) is identified by: Appleton & Co., New York, 1895 (BAL 4071), in tan/buff cloth. The US Appleton edition is the true first (1895); the London Heinemann edition followed.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- US first edition, D. Appleton & Co., New York, 1895 (BAL 4071), in tan/buff cloth
- First-issue points: the title page is dated 1895; the type on page 225 is UNBROKEN (the word 'congratulated' at the foot of the page shows clean, undamaged type — later states show broken/battered type); and the rear advertisements begin with three Gilbert Parker titles and end with a Christian Reid title
- The Red Badge itself is not listed in those rear ads in the first state
- Verify the 1895 Appleton imprint, the unbroken page 225 type, and the first-state ad sequence
- Publisher imprint reads D. Appleton & Co.
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Stephen Crane |
| Publisher | D. Appleton & Co. |
| Year | 1895 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | US first edition, D. Appleton & Co., New York, 1895 (BAL 4071), in tan/buff cloth |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
US first edition, D. Appleton & Co., New York, 1895 (BAL 4071), in tan/buff cloth. First-issue points: the title page is dated 1895; the type on page 225 is UNBROKEN (the word 'congratulated' at the foot of the page shows clean, undamaged type — later states show broken/battered type); and the rear advertisements begin with three Gilbert Parker titles and end with a Christian Reid title. The Red Badge itself is not listed in those rear ads in the first state. Verify the 1895 Appleton imprint, the unbroken page 225 type, and the first-state ad sequence.

## Is this the true first?
The US Appleton edition is the true first (1895); the London Heinemann edition followed. The 1895 Appleton text is the first published text (shorter than the longer manuscript version later reconstructed).

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later Appleton printings show broken type on page 225 and altered rear-advertisement states; reprints lack the 1895 tan cloth and the first-state advertisements (Gilbert Parker to Christian Reid).

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Red Badge of Courage: An Episode of the American Civil War* by Stephen Crane a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-red-badge-of-courage-an-episode-of-the-american-civil-wa
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.