Shirley Jackson First Editions

• The Road Through the Wall — 1948 · Farrar, Straus and Company, New YorkThe first printing is identified by the publisher's stylized 'FS' monogram (colophon) on the copyright page; per the Quill & Brush guide, that device appears on Farrar, Straus first editions and no statement appears on subsequent printings — so a copy of this imprint lacking the FS colophon is a later printing. Bound in the publisher's original orange boards with the spine lettered in white; octavo, 271 pp.…. The true first is the US Farrar, Straus and Company edition, New York, published February 1948 — Shirley Jackson's first book and first novel. No contemporary British edition has been traced in the sources consulted; the novel reached UK readers only through much later reprints (Penguin Modern Classics), which carry no precedence. Precedence is therefore uncomplicated: there is one first edition, the American,…. No book-club issue of the 1948 first is documented in the sources consulted. The reprint tell is the absence of the stylized FS colophon from the copyright page. Later paperback and Penguin Classics issues are reprints and are sometimes offered as 'first thus' — that phrase signals a new edition or new presentation of an old text, not a first edition, and is the common trap on this title.
• The Lottery; or, The Adventures of James Harris — 1949 · Farrar, Straus and Company, New YorkFirst printings carry the publisher's stylised "fs" colophon on the copyright page — its absence rules a copy out. The book collates [viii], 306 pp., octavo, bound in grey cloth with the spine lettered in red (a minority of dealers describe the cloth as beige rather than grey; the sources consulted otherwise agree). The first-issue dust jacket has the price present at the flap and gives the publisher's address as…. The US Farrar, Straus and Company edition of 1949 is the true first. The first British edition followed from Victor Gollancz, London, in 1950, retaining Jackson's original title; both are collected but Farrar, Straus holds precedence. The familiar The Lottery and Other Stories is a later re-titling and is a "first thus" trap only — never a true first. No book-club issue is documented in the sources consulted. The practical reprint tells are the absence of the "fs" colophon on the copyright page and the second-issue jacket bearing a Fifth Avenue address with a raised price in place of the 53 East 34th Street address.
• The Bird's Nest — 1954 · Farrar, Straus and Young, New YorkA first printing is stated on the copyright page; Farrar, Straus and Young used no number line in 1954, so the stated printing line is the operative point and any copy without it is later. Bound in red quarter cloth over blue paper-covered boards, octavo, 276 pp. Bonhams catalogues the spine lettering as gilt while several dealers describe the same stamping as silver, so treat the exact tone of the spine stamping…. The US edition has precedence: Farrar, Straus and Young, New York, 1954. The first British edition is Michael Joseph, London, 1955 — physically a different book (black cloth, gilt-stamped spine lettering, 240 pp., octavo) and collected in its own right, but it does not precede. Jackson wrote in English and there is no original-language question. The trap on this title is a retitle rather than a club copy. Following the 1957 film Lizzie, the novel was reissued under that title as a Signet paperback, 'Lizzie (The Bird's Nest)', with an 'originally published as The Bird's Nest' note on the copyright page. Any copy titled Lizzie is a later reprint and never the first. No book-club issue of the 1954 Farrar, Straus and Young printing was documented in the….
• The Sundial — 1958 · Farrar, Straus and Cudahy, New YorkThe first printing is identified by an explicit statement — 'First Printing, 1958' — on the copyright page; the Farrar, Straus & Cudahy imprint of this period states 'First printing' or 'First published (year)' on firsts and drops the line on later printings (corroborated by both the Quill & Brush and fedpo publisher guides). Bound in the publisher's original black paper-covered boards over a grey spine cloth,…. The true first is the US Farrar, Straus and Cudahy edition, New York, 1958; Jackson was an American author published first in America. The first English edition appeared from Michael Joseph, London, in the same year, 1958, in maroon cloth with the spine stamped in gilt and collating 254 pp.; it follows the US issue and is catalogued as the first English edition, not a co-first. Both are collected, but precedence…. No book-club issue of the 1958 US first is documented in the sources consulted. The reliable reprint tell for this title is negative: a copy of the Farrar, Straus and Cudahy issue whose copyright page lacks the 'First Printing, 1958' line is a later printing.
• The Haunting of Hill House — 1959 · Viking Press'Published in 1959 by The Viking Press' on the copyright page with no later printing stated; [vii], 246 pages. Binding is publisher's cloth in yellow and turquoise (boards turquoise, shelf-backed in yellow) stamped in black, with a black top-stain and cream endpapers. The wraparound pictorial dust jacket is by Paul Bacon, showing Hill House at a distance and lettered in blue, yellow, and white; the first-issue…. US Viking 1959 is the true first, and it precedes the first British edition. The UK first is Michael Joseph (London, 1960). First state is confirmed by the Viking 1959 imprint with no additional-printing line, the yellow-and-turquoise cloth with black top-stain, and the unclipped Paul Bacon jacket. Book-club editions have the rear-board blind-stamp, no price on the jacket, and cheaper boards; later trade printings note additional impressions on the copyright page.
• We Have Always Lived in the Castle — 1962 · The Viking Press, New YorkThe first printing copyright page reads "Published in 1962 by The Viking Press, Inc." with no mention of any later printing; dealers rely on that absence, as Viking added a printing statement to subsequent printings. The book collates [x], 214 pp., bound in publisher's crimson and cream cloth — cream/white cloth quarter-binding over crimson boards — with crimson spine lettering and a crimson topstain. The dust…. The US Viking Press edition of 1962 is the true first and precedes the first British edition, published by Michael Joseph in London in 1963 (brown cloth lettered in gilt to the spine, 190 pp., jacket illustrated by Charles Gorham and with its printed price). Both are collected, but Viking holds precedence; the Michael Joseph issue is a first British edition only, not a true first. No distinct book-club issue point is documented in the sources consulted for this title. The reliable checks remain the copyright-page wording with no later-printing statement, the crimson topstain and crimson/cream cloth, and a priced jacket with the Hill House review panel at the rear.

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