NMLP P-002610 · True-first precedence · minted 2026-07-04

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

August Wilson · Plume (New American Library / Dutton) · 1985

The Plume trade-paperback original is the true first edition. Wilson's early Century Cycle plays were published as paperback originals, not as trade hardcovers, so there is no precedent hardcover trade first to seek; any hardcover is a later book-club issue.

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New Mexico Literacy Project — True-first precedence NMLP P-002610 for "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" by August Wilson (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/id/point/p-002610, CC BY 4.0, dataset DOI 10.5281/zenodo.21184548).