Is My West with the Night a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The first printing is identified by the date on the title page: "1942" must be present in Arabic numerals
• This is Houghton Mifflin house practice rather than a one-off point; the Quill & Brush publisher guide records that the firm "almost invariably places the date, in Arabic numerals, on the title page of first printings, removing it on subsequent printings," and ABAA dealers apply it to this title directly, later printings having an undated title page
• Bound in publisher's green cloth (described by dealers as green or pale green) stamped in black on the spine and upper board
• The first-state jacket is priced at the front flap with the same price repeated in the box on the rear panel, and carries a War Bond advertisement on the rear flap; it should be unclipped, and as a bulky wartime book it is genuinely scarce with the jacket intact and the flap price present
• Sources disagree on collation (306 pp. versus x, 294 pp.), so pagination is not offered here as an identification point

How Houghton Mifflin Company marked a first edition

• Merger-lineage window (Hurd & Houghton 1864 → Houghton, Osgood & Co. 1878–1880 → Houghton, Mifflin & Co. from 1880): still no 'First Edition' wording; identify by title-page date matching the copyright date, by the earli…
• Late-19th to mid-20th century (c.1880s–1950s): the operative tell is the title page. Houghton Mifflin almost invariably printed the year of first publication, in Arabic numerals, on the title page of a first printing and…

Full Houghton Mifflin 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?

US true first: Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1942. The UK edition followed from George G. Harrap & Co. (London), dated 1943 in dealer records; it is a first English edition, not the true first, and is the lesser of the two collecting targets. The 1983 North Point Press reissue that revived the book is not a first edition of the work at all: it is a "first thus" (new introduction and format, 294 pp.) and is by a wide margin the most common misidentification, since it is the printing almost everyone owns. Any copy with an undated title page is a later printing regardless of what the copyright page says.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue is documented for the 1942 Houghton Mifflin printing in the sources consulted. The reprint hazard is the modern one: the North Point Press 1983 hardcover and paperback, the subsequent North Point / Farrar, Straus and Giroux and Virago printings, and "The Illustrated West with the Night" are all abundant and are routinely listed as first editions on the strength of a "first edition" line that refers only to the reissue.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of West with the Night a first edition?

A first edition of West with the Night by Beryl Markham (Houghton Mifflin Company) is identified by: The first printing is identified by the date on the title page: "1942" must be present in Arabic numerals.

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. US true first: Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1942.

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

No book-club issue is documented for the 1942 Houghton Mifflin printing in the sources consulted. The reprint hazard is the modern one: the North Point Press 1983 hardcover and paperback, the subsequent North Point / Farrar, Straus and Giroux and Virago printings, and "The Illustrated West with the Night" are all abundant and are routinely listed as first editions on the strength of a "first edition" line that refers only to the reissue.

I have a first edition of West with the Night — 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.