Is My Their Eyes Were Watching God a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First edition, first printing: J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia, 1937
• Identify it by the 1937 imprint and the copyright in the author's name ('Copyright, 1937, by Zora Neale Hurston') with NO statement of a later printing or impression on the copyright page; later printings add such a notice
• The publisher's binding is orange cloth, lettered in black on the spine and front
• The pictorial dust jacket (a God-like figure hurling lightning over a storm-flooded landscape) is rare in the original; the sources consulted do not record a specific flap price, so a copy's jacket should be described as priced or unpriced from the example in hand rather than assumed
• Genuine 1937 firsts are scarce, and markedly scarcer in the original jacket

How J. B. Lippincott Company marked a first edition

• From ~1925: printed 'First Edition' on the copyright page of books deemed important; novels and children's books often NOT so marked.
• Reliably indicated later printings ('Second Printing', 'Third Printing', etc.), so absence of a later-printing notice is a key signal for the unmarked titles.

Full J. B. Lippincott Company 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?

The US J. B. Lippincott edition (Philadelphia, 1937) is the true first edition and first printing; the sources consulted record no earlier or simultaneous British edition. The first UK edition is the Virago Modern Classics paperback of 1986 — nearly half a century later — so precedence is not in doubt. The original 1937 jacket is the great scarcity.P-037507

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No contemporaneous book-club edition competes with the Lippincott first. After roughly thirty years out of print, the novel was revived by the University of Illinois Press paperback of 1978 (introduction by Sherley Anne Williams), followed by Harper/Harper Perennial trade editions and the 1986 Virago UK paperback; all of these carry their own imprints and ISBNs and are separated from the 1937 first at a glance by the presence of an ISBN and modern copyright/printing data.P-037508

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Their Eyes Were Watching God a first edition?

A first edition of Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (J. B. Lippincott Company) is identified by: First edition, first printing: J.

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. The US J.

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

No contemporaneous book-club edition competes with the Lippincott first. After roughly thirty years out of print, the novel was revived by the University of Illinois Press paperback of 1978 (introduction by Sherley Anne Williams), followed by Harper/Harper Perennial trade editions and the 1986 Virago UK paperback; all of these carry their own imprints and ISBNs and are separated from the 1937 first at a glance by the presence of an ISBN and modern copyright/printing data.

I have a first edition of Their Eyes Were Watching God — 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.