# Is "The Sundial" by Shirley Jackson a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Sundial by Shirley Jackson (Farrar, Straus and Cudahy, New York, 1958) is identified by: The first printing is identified by an explicit statement — 'First Printing, 1958' — on the copyright page; the Farrar, Straus & Cudahy imprint of this period states 'First printing' or 'First published (year)' on firsts and drops the line on later printings (corroborated by both the Quill & Brush and fedpo publisher guides). The true first is the US Farrar, Straus and Cudahy edition, New York, 1958; Jackson was an American author published first in America.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The first printing is identified by an explicit statement — 'First Printing, 1958' — on the copyright page; the Farrar, Straus & Cudahy imprint of this period states 'First printing' or 'First published (year)' on firsts and drops the line on later printings (corroborated by both the Quill & Brush and fedpo publisher guides)
- Bound in the publisher's original black paper-covered boards over a grey spine cloth, lettered in black; octavo, 245 pp
- The dust wrapper on a first-issue copy is unclipped, a priced jacket with the price present at the front flap
- Copies are sometimes found with the flap price struck through and hand-corrected by a bookseller — a retail mark, not a printing point, and not evidence of a later issue
- Publisher imprint reads Farrar, Straus and Cudahy, New York
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Shirley Jackson |
| Publisher | Farrar, Straus and Cudahy, New York |
| Year | 1958 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The first printing is identified by an explicit statement — 'First Printing, 1958' — on the copyright page; the Farrar, Straus & Cudahy… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
The first printing is identified by an explicit statement — 'First Printing, 1958' — on the copyright page; the Farrar, Straus & Cudahy imprint of this period states 'First printing' or 'First published (year)' on firsts and drops the line on later printings (corroborated by both the Quill & Brush and fedpo publisher guides). Bound in the publisher's original black paper-covered boards over a grey spine cloth, lettered in black; octavo, 245 pp. The dust wrapper on a first-issue copy is unclipped, a priced jacket with the price present at the front flap. Copies are sometimes found with the flap price struck through and hand-corrected by a bookseller — a retail mark, not a printing point, and not evidence of a later issue.

## Is this the true first?
The true first is the US Farrar, Straus and Cudahy edition, New York, 1958; Jackson was an American author published first in America. The first English edition appeared from Michael Joseph, London, in the same year, 1958, in maroon cloth with the spine stamped in gilt and collating 254 pp.; it follows the US issue and is catalogued as the first English edition, not a co-first. Both are collected, but precedence belongs to the Farrar, Straus and Cudahy. The census note is correct.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue of the 1958 US first is documented in the sources consulted. The reliable reprint tell for this title is negative: a copy of the Farrar, Straus and Cudahy issue whose copyright page lacks the 'First Printing, 1958' line is a later printing.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Sundial* by Shirley Jackson a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-sundial
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.