Is My The Red Pony a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Covici-Friede's 1937 issue was published only in a signed limitation — there was no 1937 trade printing — so the limited edition IS the first separate edition (Goldstone & Payne A9a)
• The limitation leaf states 699 copies, each signed by Steinbeck, printed on La Garde handmade paper by the Pynson Printers of New York under the supervision of Elmer Adler; dealers record the copy number penned on the slipcase spine rather than printed on the limitation leaf, which reconciles listings that describe the book itself as 'unnumbered' with those quoting a number out of 699
• Binding is publisher's pictorial beige/tan limp cloth with intersectional gray rules and a red pony vignette at the center of the front board, spine lettered in red
• 81pp; fore-edge and bottom edge uncut
• It was issued in a plain glassine wrapper — not a printed dust jacket — and a publisher's tan cardboard slipcase
• A scarce out-of-series lettered issue on watermarked Marais handmade paper (as against La Garde for the numbered copies) is also recorded and was intended for private distribution; the count of 52 is commonly cited but is inferred from surviving examples rather than stated, so treat it as unconfirmed

How Covici-Friede, New York marked a first edition

• 1928–1937: First editions carry no statement of printing on the copyright page; every later printing states its printing (e.g. 'Second Printing'). The absence of any printing statement indicates the first printing.

Full Covici-Friede, New York 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?

Census claim confirmed: Covici-Friede, New York, 1937 is the true first separate edition, in the signed limitation of 699. It is US-only — there is no UK edition of the 1937 issue and no original-language question, so no precedence contest arises. The familiar Viking illustrated Red Pony (New York, 1945), with eleven Wesley Dennis watercolors and a fourth story, is a classic 'first thus' trap, not a first: 'The Leader of the People' had already made its first book appearance in The Long Valley (Viking, September 1938). The three stories in the Covici-Friede volume had appeared earlier in periodicals (North American Review, Harper's) between 1933 and 1937, so the 1937 book is first in book form only.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue of the 1937 limitation exists. Any copy that is illustrated, contains four stories, or arrives in a printed pictorial dust jacket rather than plain glassine is a later Viking edition or reprint, not the Covici-Friede first. The 1945 Viking illustrated edition — textured beige cloth with a pasted-on watercolor of a foal to the upper board, in its own slipcase — was widely reprinted and is the copy most often mistaken for a first.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Red Pony a first edition?

A first edition of The Red Pony by John Steinbeck (Covici-Friede, New York) is identified by: Covici-Friede's 1937 issue was published only in a signed limitation — there was no 1937 trade printing — so the limited edition IS the first separate edition (Goldstone & Payne A9a).

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. Census claim confirmed: Covici-Friede, New York, 1937 is the true first separate edition, in the signed limitation of 699.

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

No book-club issue of the 1937 limitation exists. Any copy that is illustrated, contains four stories, or arrives in a printed pictorial dust jacket rather than plain glassine is a later Viking edition or reprint, not the Covici-Friede first. The 1945 Viking illustrated edition — textured beige cloth with a pasted-on watercolor of a foal to the upper board, in its own slipcase — was widely reprinted and is the copy most often mistaken for a first.

I have a first edition of The Red Pony — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap — an unclipped, priced jacket matters. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and use the free First Edition Checker to decode the printing. To sell, the author’s collecting guide covers the market. And if you are clearing books in the Albuquerque area, the New Mexico Literacy Project offers free pickup, any condition, and makes sure collectible copies are identified rather than discarded.

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.