W. R. Burnett First Editions

• Little Caesar — 1929 · Lincoln MacVeagh / The Dial PressTrue first: Lincoln MacVeagh / The Dial Press, New York, 1929 — the author's first book — in navy blue cloth lettered in yellow on spine and front cover with the publisher's device stamped in blind on the front board; pagination [viii], [2], 3-308, [4] pp, top edge trimmed and other edges uncut. The dust jacket is by Irving Politzer, with the price present at the flap on first-issue jackets; no printing statement…. The Dial Press (New York) 1929 edition is the true first of the founding gangster novel. Jonathan Cape (London) issued the first British edition, also 1929, in red cloth with gilt-stamped spine, the publisher's device in blind on the rear panel, and a glossary (pp. 285-288); both editions are collected. The Literary Guild issued a contemporary book-club printing shortly after publication that is frequently confused with the first — the first edition is scarcer than it appears. A. L. Burt issued a photoplay reprint in 1931 with a frontispiece and two black-and-white film stills; both are later issues, not firsts.
• High Sierra — 1940 · Alfred A. KnopfThe first printing carries "FIRST EDITION" stated on the copyright page, consistent with Knopf house practice from 1934 onward (books published since 1934 state "First Edition," or later use a number line with the "1" present); on Knopf reprints the statement is removed and/or a later-printing statement appears. Trade issue is a small octavo of 292 pp. in red-orange/orange cloth stamped in dark gray, in a…. US Knopf (New York) 1940 is the true first edition; the census claim is confirmed. No separately issued British edition preceding or contemporaneous with the Knopf printing was located, so there is no UK-vs-US precedence contest for this title. Note that Knopf carried a London imprint line in this period, which can cause catalogue entries to read "New York and London" for the same 1940 sheets — that is not…. No book-club edition tells for this title are documented in the sources consulted. General Knopf reprint tells apply: absence of the "FIRST EDITION" statement on the copyright page, or the presence of a later-printing statement, rules out the first printing. Reported second-printing binding (deep blue spine titling in place of dark gray) is single-source and unconfirmed. Claims of a Grosset & Dunlap photoplay….
• The Asphalt Jungle — 1949 · Alfred A. Knopf"First Edition" is stated on the copyright page of the first printing, per Knopf's post-1934 convention; Knopf removed the statement on subsequent printings, so a copyright page lacking it is not the first. The book is an octavo in the publisher's distinctive purple-and-white patterned paper-covered boards stamped in black — this patterned-board binding is the readiest shelf-level check and is described…. US Knopf (New York) 1949 is the true first edition; the census claim is confirmed. The first British edition followed a year later — Macdonald, London, 1950, an octavo in black cloth — and is collected as the first UK edition only, not as the true first. Any later hardcover reissue, and the paperback and film-tie-in appearances following John Huston's 1950 adaptation, are reprints or "first thus.". No book-club edition tells for this title are documented in the sources consulted. Standard Knopf-era discriminators apply: a first printing states "First Edition" on the copyright page, and the boards should be the purple-and-white patterned paper — a copy in plain cloth, or lacking the copyright-page statement, is a later printing or a club/reprint issue. Because no blind-stamp or club-specific point is….

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