Is My The Way Some People Live a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Random House, New York, published 8 March 1943 — Cheever's first book, thirty stories arranged roughly chronologically, octavo, bound in original red buckram, in a jacket with the price present at the front flap
• Random House's practice across 1936–1975 (per the Quill & Brush publisher guide and the Books Tell You Why publisher article) was to state 'First Edition' on the copyright page of the first printing and to carry no statement on later printings; the title-specific wording was not independently confirmed from two sources, so verify that the statement is present and that no later-printing notice appears
• No number line exists on any state of this book — Random House did not adopt number rows until decades later, so a number line rules a copy out at once
• Chipping at the spine head (which characteristically attacks the word 'The') and soiling to the rear jacket panel are the usual condition faults rather than points, and darkening to the gutters is characteristic of the wartime stock — dealers note its absence as exceptional rather than as evidence of an earlier state

How Random House, New York marked a first edition

• Stated-edition era (c.1936–1975): trade first printings are plainly marked with the words 'First Edition' (or, on some earlier titles, 'First Printing') on the copyright page, with NO number line yet in use; a copyright…
• Divisional practice — share the STATEMENT, not the '2'-line: sister divisions state 'First Edition' as their firsts (Alfred A. Knopf consistently since 1933–34; Pantheon since 1964), so the words work across the family.…

Full Random House, 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. Read the number line — the lowest number is the printing. A line including 1 is a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2). Paste it into the decoder.
4. Verify this is the UK 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?

Census claim confirmed. Random House, New York, 1943 is the only edition and therefore the true first: no UK edition is recorded in the dealer listings or catalogue records consulted, and there is no original-language or precedence question. Cheever refused to let the book be reprinted and his estate maintained that refusal, so there is no later trade edition in English; only three of the thirty stories were ever reprinted, in an obscure 1960s paperback. Several stories had appeared first in The New Yorker, Collier's, Story, the Yale Review and Harper's Bazaar, so the Random House volume is first in book form.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition exists, because the book was never reprinted — this is the rare title where reprint tells are largely unnecessary. The only genuine hazards are a later-printing Random House copy, identified by the absence of the first-edition statement on the copyright page, and a supplied or facsimile jacket on an otherwise correct book. Wartime printing in small numbers means fine copies are scarce; condition, not edition, is the usual question.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Way Some People Live a first edition?

A first edition of The Way Some People Live by John Cheever (Random House, New York) is identified by: Random House, New York, published 8 March 1943 — Cheever's first book, thirty stories arranged roughly chronologically, octavo, bound in original red buckram, in a jacket with the price present at the front flap.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A number line whose lowest number is 1 marks a first printing (Random House ends at 2). Census claim confirmed.

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

No book-club edition exists, because the book was never reprinted — this is the rare title where reprint tells are largely unnecessary. The only genuine hazards are a later-printing Random House copy, identified by the absence of the first-edition statement on the copyright page, and a supplied or facsimile jacket on an otherwise correct book. Wartime printing in small numbers means fine copies are scarce; condition, not edition, is the usual question.

I have a first edition of The Way Some People Live — 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.