# Is "The Sacrilege of Alan Kent" by Erskine Caldwell a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Sacrilege of Alan Kent by Erskine Caldwell (Falmouth Book House, 1936) is identified by: First separate edition, 1936, Falmouth Book House, Portland, Maine. US first separate edition; scarce signed limited issue.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First separate edition, 1936, Falmouth Book House, Portland, Maine
- A limited issue of about 300 numbered copies signed by Caldwell, illustrated with wood engravings by Ralph Frizzell
- Prose poem of roughly 57 pages in pale green boards with a printed dust jacket
- Publisher imprint reads Falmouth Book House
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Erskine Caldwell |
| Publisher | Falmouth Book House |
| Year | 1936 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First separate edition, 1936, Falmouth Book House, Portland, Maine |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First separate edition, 1936, Falmouth Book House, Portland, Maine. A limited issue of about 300 numbered copies signed by Caldwell, illustrated with wood engravings by Ralph Frizzell. Prose poem of roughly 57 pages in pale green boards with a printed dust jacket.

## Is this the true first?
US first separate edition; scarce signed limited issue. The text had appeared earlier, in slightly different form, as the closing piece in the collection American Earth (1931); this is its first appearance as a separate book.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No trade reprint of this signed limited issue; later reprints in collected editions are not the limited first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Sacrilege of Alan Kent* by Erskine Caldwell a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-sacrilege-of-alan-kent
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.