How to identify a first printing
- c.1902–1925: First printings show the SAME date on the title page as on the copyright page with no additional printings listed; any later-printing line, or a title-page date later than the copyright date, indicates a reprint.
- A seven-branched menorah device appears as a Huebsch house mark; treat it as a publisher identifier, not by itself a first-printing point.
- Caveat: some Huebsch titles were issued from imported British sheets (e.g., Joyce's 'Dubliners,' 1916, from Grant Richards sheets), so for those the British printing points and the bibliographic record govern, not a U.S. number line.
Notable points & cautions
- Founded c.1900–1902 by Benjamin W. Huebsch; a pioneering modernist publisher.
- First U.S. publisher of James Joyce's 'Dubliners' and 'A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man' (1916), D. H. Lawrence's 'Sons and Lovers' (1913), and Sherwood Anderson's 'Winesburg, Ohio' (1919).
- Merged into the newly formed Viking Press in 1925; Huebsch became an editor and vice-president at Viking, and post-1925 titles carry the Viking imprint.
- The 1925 Viking absorption is the firm's terminal date — a 'B. W. Huebsch' imprint dates a book to before that merger.
Frequently asked questions
How do I know if my B. W. Huebsch book is a first edition?
Check the copyright page. c.1902–1925: First printings show the SAME date on the title page as on the copyright page with no additional printings listed; any later-printing line, or a title-page date later than the copyright date, indicates a reprint. A seven-branched menorah device appears as a Huebsch house mark; treat it as a publisher identifier, not by itself a first-printing point.
Does B. W. Huebsch use a number line?
A seven-branched menorah device appears as a Huebsch house mark; treat it as a publisher identifier, not by itself a first-printing point.
Is a book-club edition a B. W. Huebsch first edition?
No. Book-club editions reprint the text but are not the true first edition. Founded c.1900–1902 by Benjamin W. Huebsch; a pioneering modernist publisher.
What era does this cover?
This covers B. W. Huebsch (1900–1925 (absorbed by Viking Press)). Conventions changed over time, so confirm the era of your copy.
B. W. Huebsch 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.
- A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (James Joyce, 1916)