# Is "You Have Seen Their Faces" by Erskine Caldwell a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of You Have Seen Their Faces by Erskine Caldwell (Viking Press, 1937) is identified by: First printing, Viking Press, November 1937. US first edition (Viking, 1937).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First printing, Viking Press, November 1937
- Photo-text collaboration with Margaret Bourke-White; tan cloth lettered in red, with the original pictorial dust jacket
- Landmark Depression-era documentary photo book
- Publisher imprint reads Viking Press
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Erskine Caldwell |
| Publisher | Viking Press |
| Year | 1937 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First printing, Viking Press, November 1937 |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First printing, Viking Press, November 1937. Photo-text collaboration with Margaret Bourke-White; tan cloth lettered in red, with the original pictorial dust jacket. Landmark Depression-era documentary photo book.

## Is this the true first?
US first edition (Viking, 1937).

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
A wrappered cheap reprint was issued by Modern Age Books shortly after the Viking hardcover; that softcover is not the first edition. Later printings exist.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *You Have Seen Their Faces* by Erskine Caldwell a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/you-have-seen-their-faces
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.