# Is "The Saga of Billy the Kid" by Walter Noble Burns a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Saga of Billy the Kid by Walter Noble Burns (Doubleday, Page & Company, 1926) is identified by: The first printing carries a "First edition" statement on the copyright page. US-only true first: Doubleday, Page & Company, Garden City, 1926.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The first printing carries a "First edition" statement on the copyright page
- Doubleday house practice of the period was to state "First edition" or "First printing" and to drop the line on later printings, so a Doubleday, Page copy without the statement is a later printing
- Collates 5 preliminary leaves plus 322 pages, 22 cm, with pictorial (illustrated) lining-papers drawn by Edward Borein; the Library of Congress record (LCCN 26007890) independently transcribes the "First edition" statement, the 5 p.l./322 pp. collation and the illustrated lining-papers
- Dealer descriptions of the first report green cloth, and the pictorial jacket carries a portrait of Billy the Kid on the front panel; a priced jacket (price present at the flap) is expected
- Dealer catalogues cite the book as Adams, Six-Guns and Saddle Leather 337 and Dobie, Guide to Life and Literature of the Southwest p
- The green cloth is reported by a single dealer source and should be confirmed against the copyright page rather than relied on alone
- Publisher imprint reads Doubleday, Page & Company

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Walter Noble Burns |
| Publisher | Doubleday, Page & Company |
| Year | 1926 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The first printing carries a "First edition" statement on the copyright page |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
The first printing carries a "First edition" statement on the copyright page. Doubleday house practice of the period was to state "First edition" or "First printing" and to drop the line on later printings, so a Doubleday, Page copy without the statement is a later printing. Collates 5 preliminary leaves plus 322 pages, 22 cm, with pictorial (illustrated) lining-papers drawn by Edward Borein; the Library of Congress record (LCCN 26007890) independently transcribes the "First edition" statement, the 5 p.l./322 pp. collation and the illustrated lining-papers. Dealer descriptions of the first report green cloth, and the pictorial jacket carries a portrait of Billy the Kid on the front panel; a priced jacket (price present at the flap) is expected. Dealer catalogues cite the book as Adams, Six-Guns and Saddle Leather 337 and Dobie, Guide to Life and Literature of the Southwest p. 140. The green cloth is reported by a single dealer source and should be confirmed against the copyright page rather than relied on alone.

## Is this the true first?
US-only true first: Doubleday, Page & Company, Garden City, 1926. No earlier or simultaneous UK issue; the book was kept in print in England, but the London issues (e.g. Macdonald, 1951) follow well after. The commonest "first thus" traps both retain the 1926 date and are routinely mis-sold as firsts: the Grosset & Dunlap reprint (G&D imprint, copyright page reading "1925, 1926", red cloth, retaining the Borein endpapers) and the Garden City Publishing reprint. Also later: the 1946 Armed Services Edition, the 1953 Signet paperback and the 1999 University of New Mexico Press reissue.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The book was the Book-of-the-Month Club selection for December 1926, and dealers do offer copies of this title explicitly as BOMC/book-club issues, so club copies circulate alongside trade firsts. However, the sources consulted document no distinct point (blindstamp, code or altered copyright page) for the 1926 club issue, so a copy should be judged on the Doubleday, Page imprint plus the copyright-page "First edition" statement rather than on club tells. General BOMC tells of the era -- a small blind stamp or dot at the lower right of the rear board, and a jacket without a price at the flap -- are indicative only and are not confirmed for this title. In practice the commonest confusions in the market are not club copies but the Grosset & Dunlap and Garden City Publishing reprints.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Saga of Billy the Kid* by Walter Noble Burns a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-saga-of-billy-the-kid
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.