How to identify a first printing
- No statement of printing on the copyright page of firsts; later printings designated 'second printing', etc.
- Therefore: absence of any later-printing notice = first printing (for the vintage era).
- From the 1970s (revived Liveright): a number line with '1' present indicates a first.
Notable points & cautions
- Originated the Modern Library series before selling it to Bennett Cerf/Random House in 1925 — a key bibliographic crossover.
- Major 1920s modernist house (Eliot's 'The Waste Land', Hemingway's 'In Our Time' US, Faulkner, Pound, Hart Crane) — these high-spots have detailed title-level points.
- Boni & Liveright (1917-1928) → Horace Liveright Inc. (1928-1933) → Liveright Inc.; the imprint name on the title page dates the copy.
Imprints
First editions also appear under: Boni & Liveright, Horace Liveright Inc., Liveright Publishing, Modern Library (early, before sale to Random House). Each generally follows the house convention above.
Frequently asked questions
How do I know if my Boni & Liveright / Horace Liveright book is a first edition?
Check the copyright page. No statement of printing on the copyright page of firsts; later printings designated 'second printing', etc. Therefore: absence of any later-printing notice = first printing (for the vintage era).
Does Boni & Liveright / Horace Liveright use a number line?
Therefore: absence of any later-printing notice = first printing (for the vintage era).
Is a book-club edition a Boni & Liveright / Horace Liveright first edition?
No. Book-club editions reprint the text but are not the true first edition. Originated the Modern Library series before selling it to Bennett Cerf/Random House in 1925 — a key bibliographic crossover.
What era does this cover?
This covers Boni & Liveright / Horace Liveright (1917-1933 (revived 1970s+)). Conventions changed over time, so confirm the era of your copy.
Boni & Liveright / Horace Liveright titles with documented first-edition points
Each link opens that title’s specific points of issue — the exact marks that separate a true first printing from a later one.
- Beyond the Horizon (Eugene O'Neill, 1920)
- Desire Under the Elms (Eugene O'Neill, 1925)
- Dynamo (Eugene O'Neill, 1929)
- Gold (Eugene O'Neill, 1920)
- Lazarus Laughed (Eugene O'Neill, 1927)
- Marco Millions (Eugene O'Neill, 1927)
- Miss Lonelyhearts (Nathanael West, 1933)
- Mosquitoes (William Faulkner, 1927)
- Mourning Becomes Electra (Eugene O'Neill, 1931)
- Soldiers' Pay (William Faulkner, 1926)
- Strange Interlude (Eugene O'Neill, 1928)
- The Coming of Bill (P.G. Wodehouse, 1919)
- The Emperor Jones (illustrated edition) (Eugene O'Neill, 1928)
- The Moon of the Caribbees and Six Other Plays of the Sea (Eugene O'Neill, 1919)
- The Story of Mankind (Hendrik Willem van Loon, 1921)
- The Waste Land (T. S. Eliot, 1922)
- White Buildings (Hart Crane, 1926)
- Whose Body? (Dorothy L. Sayers, 1923)