Here are the books for the 1940's. Click on a thumbnail to see first edition criteria (and photos).

Year

Title

Author

Publisher

1940


 

For Whom the Bell Tolls
The first edition has an "A" on the copyright page. However, there is some  (more...)

Last: Hemingway
First: Ernest

Charles Scribner's Sons
Original Price: $2.75
Pages: 471

1940


 

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
1940 is stated on both the title page and the copyright page. Binding is  (more...)

Last: McCullers
First: Carson

Houghton Mifflin Company
Original Price: $2.50
Pages: 356

1941


 

In This Our Life
"First Edition" is stated. (more...)

Last: Glasgow
First: Ellen

Pulitzer Prize

Harcourt, Brace and Company
Original Price: $2.50
Pages: 467

1941


 

Saratoga Trunk
The true first edition is a limited edition of 562 copies.

Below is  (more...)

Last: Ferber
First: Edna

Doubleday, Doran and Company
Original Price: $2.50

1941


 

Star Spangled Summer
FIRST EDITION is stated on the copyright page, and 1941 is stated on the  (more...)

Last: Lambert
First: Janet

Dutton and Company
Original Price: $2.00
Pages: 281

1942


 

Dragon's Teeth
The first printing states "FIRST PUBLISHED IN JANUARY 1942" on the copyright  (more...)

Last: Sinclair
First: Upton

Pulitzer Prize

Viking
Original Price: $3.00
Pages: 631

1942


 

The Moon is Down
First published in March 1942 is stated on the copyright page with no  (more...)

Last: Steinbeck
First: John

Viking
Original Price: $2.00
Pages: 188

1942


 

Cross Creek
The first edition has an "A" on copyright page, and it is our opinion that  (more...)

Last: Rawlings
First: Marjorie Kinnan

Charles Scribner's Sons
Original Price: $2.50
Pages: 368

1942


 

The Children
"FIRST EDITION" is stated on copyright page above "First Published 1942".  (more...)

Last: Fedorova
First: Nina

Little, Brown and Company
Original Price: $2.50
Pages: 386

1943


 

Journey in the Dark
"FIRST EDITION" is stated on copyright page. Dust jacket must state HARPER &  (more...)

Last: Flavin
First: Martin

Pulitzer Prize

Harper and Brothers
Original Price: $2.75
Pages: 432

1943


 

The Fountainhead
First Edition is stated on the copyright page. Binding is red cloth with  (more...)

Last: Rand
First: Ayn

Bobbs-Merrill
Original Price: $3.00
Pages: 754

1943


 

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
FIRST EDITION is stated on the copyright page above "D-S" and below "8-43".  (more...)

Last: Smith
First: Betty

Harper and Brothers
Original Price: $2.75
Pages: 443

1944


 

A Bell For Adano
"First Edition" is stated, with no other references to printing. The first  (more...)

Last: Hersey
First: John

Pulitzer Prize

Alfred A. Knopf
Original Price: $2.50
Pages: 269

1944


 

Presidential Agent
The first printing states "FIRST PUBLISHED BY THE VIKING PRESS IN JUNE 1944"  (more...)

Last: Sinclair
First: Upton

Viking Press
Original Price: $3.00
Pages: 655

1945


 

Cannery Row
First Published by The Viking Press in January 1945 is stated on the  (more...)

Last: Steinbeck
First: John

Viking
Original Price: $2.00
Pages: 208

1945


 

If He Hollers Let Him Go
FIRST EDITION is stated on the copyright page. Binding is black cloth with  (more...)

Last: Himes
First: Chester B.

Doubleday, Doran and Company
Original Price: $2.50
Pages: 249

1945


 

Stuart Little
"FIRST EDITION" is stated on the copyright page. Boards are beige pictorial  (more...)

Last: White
First: E.B.

Harper & Brothers
Original Price: $2.00
Pages: 131

1946


 

All the King's Men
"first edition" is stated on copyright page. Boards are maroon. 1st state  (more...)

Last: Warren
First: Robert Penn

Pulitzer Prize

Harcourt Brace and Company
Original Price: $3.00
Pages: 464

1946


 

Hiroshima
FIRST EDITION is stated on the copyright page with no references to  (more...)

Last: Hersey
First: John

Alfred A. Knopf
Original Price: $1.75
Pages: 118

1946


 

Delta Wedding
"first edition" is stated on the copyright page.  (more...)

Last: Welty
First: Eudora

Harcourt, Brace and Company
Original Price: $2.75
Pages: 247

1946


 

A World to Win
The first printing states "FIRST PUBLISHED BY THE VIKING PRESS IN MAY 1946"  (more...)

Last: Sinclair
First: Upton

Viking Press
Original Price: $3.00
Pages: 627

1947


 

Tales of the South Pacific
"First Printing" is stated on the top of the copyright page. Printed by "THE  (more...)

Last: Michener
First: James A.

Pulitzer Prize

Macmillan
Original Price: $3.00
Pages: 326

1947


 

The Pearl
PUBLISHED BY THE VIKING PRESS IN DECEMBER 1947 is stated on the copyright  (more...)

Last: Steinbeck
First: John

Viking
Original Price: $2.00
Pages: 122

1947


 

The Wayward Bus
Book boards are brick red color, not the salmon color of the very common book  (more...)

Last: Steinbeck
First: John

Viking
Original Price: $2.75
Pages: 312

1947


 

So Dear to My Heart
Copyright page says First Edition with no references to subsequent printings.  (more...)

Last: North
First: Sterling

Doubleday & Company
Original Price: $2.75
Pages: 255

1948


 

Guard of Honor
"first edition" is stated. (more...)

Last: Cozzens
First: James Gould

Pulitzer Prize

Harcourt Brace and Company
Original Price: $3.50
Pages: 631

1948


 

Crusade in Europe
The true first is a signed edition limited to one thousand four hundred and  (more...)

Last: Eisenhower
First: Dwight D.

Doubleday and Company
Original Price: $5.00
Pages: 559

1948


 

The Naked and the Dead
Copyright page has the Rinehart logo (a circle with a script R in the  (more...)

Last: Mailer
First: Norman

Rinehart and Company
Original Price: $4.00
Pages: 721

1948


 

Son of the Moon
FIRST EDITION is stated on the copyright page. (more...)

Last: Hitrec
First: Joseph G.

Harpers
Original Price: $3.00
Pages: 383

1948


 

The Sea Chase
FIRST EDITION is stated on the copyright page above "G-X". The binding is  (more...)

Last: Geer
First: Andrew

Harper and Brothers
Original Price: $3.00
Pages: 274

1948


 

The City Boy
Copyright page has 7 lines of text on the top, including a line that says  (more...)

Last: Wouk
First: Herman

Simon and Schuster
Original Price: $2.95
Pages: 306

1948


 

Raintree County
1948 is stated on the title page. Binding is green cloth with no  (more...)

Last: Lockridge
First: Ross

Houghton Mifflin Company
Original Price: $3.95
Pages: 1066

1948


 

The Hunters and the Hunted (U.S.)
Macmillan first published this title in the UK in 1947, and then published  (more...)

Last: Sitwell
First: sacheverell

Macmillan
Original Price: $4.00
Pages: 314

1948


 

Other Voices, Other Rooms
FIRST PRINTING is stated on the top of the copyright page. Binding is beige  (more...)

Last: Capote
First: Truman

Random House
Original Price: $2.75
Pages: 231

1948


 

Cry, the Beloved Country (US)
The first edition states 1948 on the title page, and an "A" below the rights  (more...)

Last: Paton
First: Alan

Charles Scribner's Sons
Original Price: $3.00
Pages: 278

1948


 

Cry, the Beloved County (UK)
The first UK edition states FIRST PUBLISHED 1948 on the copyright page.  (more...)

Last: Paton
First: Alan

Jonathan Cape
Original Price: 9s. 6d. net
Pages: 269

1949


 

The Way West
"First Printing" and "Manufactured in the United States of America" is stated  (more...)

Last: Guthrie
First: A B

Pulitzer Prize

William Sloane Associates
Original Price: $3.50
Pages: 340

1949


 

Nineteen Eighty-Four
The true first edition was published in London by Secker & Warburg. It is  (more...)

Last: Orwell
First: George

Harcourt
Original Price: $3.00
Pages: 314

1949


 

Death of a Salesman
Copyright page states "PUBLISHED BY THE VIKING PRESS, INC. IN MARCH 1949" on  (more...)

Last: Miller
First: Arthur

Pulitzer Prize

Viking
Original Price: $2.50
Pages: 139

1949


 

The Man with the Golden Arm
FIRST EDITION is stated at the bottom of the copyright page. Boards are  (more...)

Last: Algren
First: Nelson

National Book Award

Doubleday
Original Price: $3.00
Pages: 343

1949


 

The Golden Apples
first edition is stated on the copyright page. Boards are green with gold  (more...)

Last: Welty
First: Eudora

Harcourt, Brace and Company
Original Price: $3.00
Pages: 244