Is My The Skin of Our Teeth a First Edition?

The points of issue

• 'FIRST EDITION' is stated on the copyright page of the first printing, with no later printing listed — Harper & Brothers had stated first editions since 1922, so absence of the statement rules a copy out
• Harper additionally printed a small two-letter month-year code on the copyright page
• The month letters run A=January through M=December, skipping J (so K=October, L=November, M=December); the year letters recycle, with the cycle restarting at M=1937, which makes R the year letter for 1942
• A 1942-dated first printing therefore carries a code ending in -R. The specific month letter for this title is not documented in any source consulted, so read the code as corroboration of the FIRST EDITION statement, not as the primary point — but a 1942-dated title page over a code ending in anything other than -R is a warning
• Collation: 3 preliminary leaves + 142 pp
• Bound in brick-red cloth with a paper spine label and a paper front-cover label — both labels must be present

How Harper & Brothers, New York marked a first edition

• 1912-1949: month/year letter code on copyright page. Month: A=Jan, B=Feb, C=Mar, D=Apr, E=May, F=Jun, G=Jul, H=Aug, I=Sep, K=Oct, L=Nov, M=Dec (J skipped).
• From 1922: also began printing 'First Edition' on the copyright page in addition to the code.

Full Harper & Brothers, 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?

US only-first; the census claim is correct as to publisher, city and year. Harper & Brothers, New York, 1942 is the true first, and no UK edition preceding it is recorded in the sources consulted, so no UK-vs-US precedence question arises. One pre-publication artifact exists and cuts the other way as a trap: producer Michael Myerberg's mimeographed production script — 'The Skin of Our Teeth: Play in Three Acts', 1942, brad-bound mimeographed leaves printed rectos only in blue wrappers, the three acts paginated separately (39, 41 and 31 pp.), Myerberg named as publisher on front wrapper and title page. It is a theatrical working document, not a published edition, and OCLC locates only two institutional copies (NYPL and the Morgan, with further copies among Wilder's papers at Yale). It neither is the first edition nor is it a reprint of one; describe it for what it is.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club printing is documented for the 1942 Harper. Later-printing tells: any Harper copyright page listing a printing beyond the first, absence of the FIRST EDITION statement, or a code letter other than -R beneath a 1942-dated title page. The reprints that get mistaken for firsts are 'first thus': the Samuel French acting editions (1944/1945, reset and repaginated at c. 146 pp.) and the Harper 'Three Plays' (1957), which reprints the play with a new preface by Wilder — the preface is new to that volume, which is exactly what makes it first thus and not first.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Skin of Our Teeth a first edition?

A first edition of The Skin of Our Teeth by Thornton Wilder (Harper & Brothers, New York) is identified by: 'FIRST EDITION' is stated on the copyright page of the first printing, with no later printing listed — Harper & Brothers had stated first editions since 1922, so absence of the statement rules a copy out.

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. US only-first; the census claim is correct as to publisher, city and year.

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

No book-club printing is documented for the 1942 Harper. Later-printing tells: any Harper copyright page listing a printing beyond the first, absence of the FIRST EDITION statement, or a code letter other than -R beneath a 1942-dated title page. The reprints that get mistaken for firsts are 'first thus': the Samuel French acting editions (1944/1945, reset and repaginated at c. 146 pp.) and the Harper 'Three Plays' (1957), which reprints the play with a new preface by Wilder — the preface is new

I have a first edition of The Skin of Our Teeth — 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.