# Is "Without Sorcery" by Theodore Sturgeon a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Without Sorcery by Theodore Sturgeon (Prime Press, Philadelphia, 1948) is identified by: Sturgeon's first book; full title 'Without Sorcery: Thirteen Tales'. Census claim confirmed.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Sturgeon's first book; full title 'Without Sorcery: Thirteen Tales'
- Total printing reported as 2,862 copies
- The trade issue is bound in black cloth with the spine lettered in gilt; introduction by Ray Bradbury, illustrations by L. Robert Tschirky
- A deluxe issue was specially bound in burgundy cloth with gilt spine lettering, housed in a publisher's board slipcase, signed by Sturgeon and by Tschirky, and carries a holograph limitation statement inked by the publisher on the front pastedown
- SOURCES CONFLICT on that limitation and no figure should be asserted: examined copies record 'One of eighty copies specially bound and signed by the author and artist
- The Prime Press', while Currey (p
- Publisher imprint reads Prime Press, Philadelphia

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Theodore Sturgeon |
| Publisher | Prime Press, Philadelphia |
| Year | 1948 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Sturgeon's first book; full title 'Without Sorcery: Thirteen Tales' |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Sturgeon's first book; full title 'Without Sorcery: Thirteen Tales'. Total printing reported as 2,862 copies. The trade issue is bound in black cloth with the spine lettered in gilt; introduction by Ray Bradbury, illustrations by L. Robert Tschirky. A deluxe issue was specially bound in burgundy cloth with gilt spine lettering, housed in a publisher's board slipcase, signed by Sturgeon and by Tschirky, and carries a holograph limitation statement inked by the publisher on the front pastedown. SOURCES CONFLICT on that limitation and no figure should be asserted: examined copies record 'One of eighty copies specially bound and signed by the author and artist. The Prime Press', while Currey (p. 473) records copies stating 'One of 88 copies on special paper specially bound', and Prime Press partner Oswald Train recalled 100 signed copies — read the statement on the copy in hand rather than relying on a published count. Currey p. 473 further distinguishes trade-issue binding states A and B; the feature separating those two states could not be confirmed from available sources and must be checked against Currey directly. Priced jacket: price present at the flap.

## Is this the true first?
Census claim confirmed. Prime Press (Philadelphia, 1948) is the true first edition — a US small-press original with no UK, foreign-language, or other predecessor, so only the US edition is collected. The signed/slipcased deluxe and the black-cloth trade issue are both first edition, differing by issue rather than by printing. One earlier Prime Press item is emphatically not this book: a promotional pamphlet printing the single story 'It' (about 200 copies, some distributed at the 1948 Worldcon) precedes the collection and is a separate item, not a state of it.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition of the Prime Press printing is documented. The recurring trap is the later paperback reissue titled 'Not Without Sorcery', an abridgement under a changed title that is routinely miscatalogued alongside the 1948 first — a 'first thus' at best. Any copy not bearing the Prime Press imprint is a later edition.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Without Sorcery* by Theodore Sturgeon a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/without-sorcery
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.