# Is "The Tradition" by Jericho Brown a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Tradition by Jericho Brown (Copper Canyon Press, 2019) is identified by: First edition published by Copper Canyon Press on April 2, 2019, as a paperback original (ISBN 9781556594861) with a first-printing number line. US Copper Canyon Press (2019) paperback is the true first edition.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition published by Copper Canyon Press on April 2, 2019, as a paperback original (ISBN 9781556594861) with a first-printing number line
- Won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- National Book Award finalist
- The number line advances on later printings
- Publisher imprint reads Copper Canyon Press
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Jericho Brown |
| Publisher | Copper Canyon Press |
| Year | 2019 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Poetry |
| Key point | First edition published by Copper Canyon Press on April 2, 2019, as a paperback original (ISBN 9781556594861) with a first-printing number… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First edition published by Copper Canyon Press on April 2, 2019, as a paperback original (ISBN 9781556594861) with a first-printing number line. Won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry; National Book Award finalist (2019). The number line advances on later printings.

## Is this the true first?
US Copper Canyon Press (2019) paperback is the true first edition. There was no simultaneous cloth issue.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book club edition. The Copper Canyon hardcover (ISBN 9781556596025) was not published until February 4, 2020, after the original paperback and after the Pulitzer announcement, so it is a later edition, not part of the 2019 first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Tradition* by Jericho Brown a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-tradition
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.