# Is "Wait Until Spring, Bandini" by John Fante a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Wait Until Spring, Bandini by John Fante (Stackpole Sons, 1938) is identified by: True first is Stackpole Sons (New York), 1938 — Fante's first book, published with H. US Stackpole Sons (1938) is the confirmed true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- True first is Stackpole Sons (New York), 1938 — Fante's first book, published with H. L. Mencken's backing; first edition, first printing as identified by multiple ABAA dealers
- Issued in green (to blue-green) cloth with the spine stamped/lettered in orange and the front board stamped in blind; octavo, 266 pp; dust jacket priced at the flap
- One dealer describes a darker spine with pale lettering, consistent with toning/fading rather than a distinct issue, so binding shade varies copy to copy
- First printings are genuinely uncommon in jacket, as Stackpole's promotion budget was diverted into its concurrent Mein Kampf copyright litigation
- Publisher imprint reads Stackpole Sons
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | John Fante |
| Publisher | Stackpole Sons |
| Year | 1938 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | True first is Stackpole Sons (New York), 1938 — Fante's first book, published with H. L. Mencken's backing; first edition, first printing… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
True first is Stackpole Sons (New York), 1938 — Fante's first book, published with H. L. Mencken's backing; first edition, first printing as identified by multiple ABAA dealers. Issued in green (to blue-green) cloth with the spine stamped/lettered in orange and the front board stamped in blind; octavo, 266 pp; dust jacket priced at the flap. One dealer describes a darker spine with pale lettering, consistent with toning/fading rather than a distinct issue, so binding shade varies copy to copy. First printings are genuinely uncommon in jacket, as Stackpole's promotion budget was diverted into its concurrent Mein Kampf copyright litigation.

## Is this the true first?
US Stackpole Sons (1938) is the confirmed true first. The census claim of a 'UK Routledge 1939' edition could NOT be corroborated in any dealer listing, library catalog (OpenLibrary), or bibliographic source consulted; no contemporaneous British edition is confirmed (Fante's UK Bandini-novel appearances are later 20th-century reprints, e.g. Black Sparrow/Canongate). Treat Stackpole 1938 as the sole true first pending evidence of any UK issue.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club or later-issue tells documented in the sources consulted; the 1938 Stackpole sheets are distinguished from Black Sparrow (1983+) reprints by publisher imprint and setting.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Wait Until Spring, Bandini* by John Fante a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/wait-until-spring-bandini
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.