First Edition Points and Criteria for Arrowsmith

Year Published: 1925
Author Last Name: Lewis
Author First Name: Sinclair
Publisher: Harcourt Brace and Company
Original Price: $2.00
Pages: 448

The true first edition was a limited edition signed by Lewis. It was numbered and limited to 500 copies. It was issued quarter bound in white buckram and blue boards with paper spine label, top edges gilt in a blue cardboard slipcase. It was wrapped in glassine instead of a dust jacket. It also had an extra spine label tipped-in.

The second printing was the first trade edition, and this is stated on the copyright page. The first trade edition was issued with a dust jacket priced at $2.00.

Arrowsmith won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.


Photo of the first edition of Arrowsmith. It was issued on handmade paper, numbered, and signed by the author.


Copyright page from the first true edition of Arrowsmith.


This is the signature page from the true first edition.


The true first edition of Arrowsmith was issued in a blue cardboard slipcase. The extra tipped-in label was applied to the back of this slipcase.


The true first edition of Arrowsmith had a gilt top edge to the pages.


The title page from the true first edition of Arrowsmith.


The limited signed edition had an extra spine label tipped-in.


Arrowsmith first trade edition dust jacket


Copyright page from the first trade edition.


Picture of dust jacket where the original $2.00 price is found for the first trade edition of Arrowsmith.


This is the back of the dust jacket for the first trade edition of Arrowsmith. Photo courtesy of James Cahill/Rare Books, Inc.


The first trade edition had orange letters on blue boards.


The back dust jacket flap for the first trade edition of Arrowsmith.


The title page from the first trade edition of Arrowsmith.

Other first edition points for books by Sinclair Lewis include: Babbitt.