How to Identify a Thomas Y. Crowell Company First Edition

How to identify a first printing

• First editions carry only the copyright notice on the copyright page, with NO printing statement and no later-printing notation. The defining tell is the ABSENCE of any 'Second/Third Printing' (etc.) legend under the copyright — Crowell identified its books by marking subsequent printings, not by marking firsts.
• Reprints are flagged by a printing legend beneath the copyright (e.g., 'Second Printing,' 'Third Printing'); a book lacking such a legend is presumed a first. Crowell also commonly placed a colophon at the back of the book where later printings were noted (a practice continued as late as the 1980s).
• A number line ('10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1', with the '1' present indicating a first printing) appears on later/modern Crowell books — some sources note number rows may have been used as early as the 1940s. Per the publisher, an explicit 'first edition' statement plus copyright-page notation of later printings was adopted only around the late 1970s–early 1980s, NOT the late 1960s as claimed.

Notable points & cautions

• The reliable tell for the earlier period is the ABSENCE of a later-printing legend (and/or an unmarked back-of-book colophon), NOT a 'matching date on title page and copyright page.' The claimed date-matching method is not supported by standard bookseller references; many Crowell title pages did not carry a date at all, so a date-match test is unreliable.
• Crowell was acquired and became part of Harper & Row in 1977/1978 (the Crowell imprint was absorbed into Harper & Row's juvenile/general lists), so the 'merged into Harper & Row (1970s)' point is broadly correct, though Crowell had earlier been part of Dun & Bradstreet's holdings.
• The convention as stated conflates Crowell's actual practice (note the reprint, not the first) with a Scribner-style 'A and seal' / matching-date approach used by other publishers.

Imprints

First editions also appear under: Crowell, Apollo Editions. Each generally follows the house convention above.

Frequently asked questions

How do I know if my Thomas Y. Crowell Company book is a first edition?

Check the copyright page. First editions carry only the copyright notice on the copyright page, with NO printing statement and no later-printing notation. The defining tell is the ABSENCE of any 'Second/Third Printing' (etc.) legend under the copyright — Crowell identified its books by marking subsequent printings, not by marking firsts. Reprints are flagged by a printing legend beneath the copyright (e.g., 'Second Printing,' 'Third Printing'); a book lacking such a legend is presumed a first. Crowell also commonly placed a colophon at the back of the book where later printings were noted (a practice continued as late as the 1980s).

Does Thomas Y. Crowell Company use a number line?

Reprints are flagged by a printing legend beneath the copyright (e.g., 'Second Printing,' 'Third Printing'); a book lacking such a legend is presumed a first. Crowell also commonly placed a colophon at the back of the book where later printings were noted (a practice continued as late as the 1980s).

Is a book-club edition a Thomas Y. Crowell Company first edition?

No. Book-club editions reprint the text but are not the true first edition. The reliable tell for the earlier period is the ABSENCE of a later-printing legend (and/or an unmarked back-of-book colophon), NOT a 'matching date on title page and copyright page.' The claimed date-matching method is not supported by standard bookseller references; many Crowell title pages did not carry a date at all, so a date-match test is unreliable.

What era does this cover?

This covers Thomas Y. Crowell Company (1870s-1970s). Conventions changed over time, so confirm the era of your copy.