# Is "Welcome to Hard Times" by E. L. Doctorow a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Welcome to Hard Times by E. L. Doctorow (Simon & Schuster, 1960) is identified by: Doctorow's first book, 180 pp., published by Simon & Schuster, New York, 1960. The census claim is confirmed: the true first is the US edition, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1960.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Doctorow's first book, 180 pp., published by Simon & Schuster, New York, 1960
- The first printing carries a printing statement on the copyright page and no number line: Simon & Schuster began using a first-edition/first-printing statement in 1952 and did not adopt a number row until the early 1970s, so a number line on a copy of this title indicates a later issue
- Binding is quarter cream/white cloth over orange paper-covered boards, lettered in black on the spine and front panel, with a red/brown-orange top-stain — corroborated across independent dealer descriptions
- Issued in a pictorial dust jacket; look for a priced jacket with the price present at the flap, as clipped jackets are common
- The paper stock is notably cheap for a major trade publisher, and uniform age-toning/embrowning of the text block is normal for the first printing rather than evidence of a later state
- Publisher imprint reads Simon & Schuster
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | E. L. Doctorow |
| Publisher | Simon & Schuster |
| Year | 1960 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Doctorow's first book, 180 pp., published by Simon & Schuster, New York, 1960 |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Doctorow's first book, 180 pp., published by Simon & Schuster, New York, 1960. The first printing carries a printing statement on the copyright page and no number line: Simon & Schuster began using a first-edition/first-printing statement in 1952 and did not adopt a number row until the early 1970s, so a number line on a copy of this title indicates a later issue. Binding is quarter cream/white cloth over orange paper-covered boards, lettered in black on the spine and front panel, with a red/brown-orange top-stain — corroborated across independent dealer descriptions. Issued in a pictorial dust jacket; look for a priced jacket with the price present at the flap, as clipped jackets are common. The paper stock is notably cheap for a major trade publisher, and uniform age-toning/embrowning of the text block is normal for the first printing rather than evidence of a later state.

## Is this the true first?
The census claim is confirmed: the true first is the US edition, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1960. The title-change trap is real — the first UK edition was published by Andre Deutsch, London, 1961 under the different title Bad Man from Bodie, in purple boards with gilt spine lettering; it is a separately collected first English edition but does not precede the US issue. Later UK paperbacks reissued it as Welcome to Hard Times (previously entitled Bad Man from Bodie), which is a first-thus, not a first.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club printing of the 1960 Simon & Schuster issue is documented in the sources consulted. The 1961 Andre Deutsch Bad Man from Bodie and all later Random House/Plume reissues are distinct editions, not first-printing states.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Welcome to Hard Times* by E. L. Doctorow a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/welcome-to-hard-times
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.