4 Walter Mosley first editions are documented on this shelf, from Devil in a Blue Dress (1990) to Down the River Unto the Sea (2018) across 3 different publishers. Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that Walter Mosley title from later printings and book-club copies — the publisher and year to expect, the number-line or edition-statement conventions, and the tells that show up in online listings.
Identification only, per the house rule: no prices and no appraisals here. Checking a Walter Mosley copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.
- Devil in a Blue Dress — 1990 · W.W. NortonW.W. Norton first printing, stated "First Edition" on the copyright page above a complete descending number line ending in 1. Bound in orange boards with a yellow cloth spine lettered in blue, with a blindstamped stylized geometric figure to the front board that is repeated on the title page. First-issue dust jacket carries John Jinks's cubistic painting of a woman in a blue dress and must retain its printed…. US Norton 1990 is the true first, preceding the UK Serpent's Tail/Pan editions. The US first with the full number line and stated First Edition is the collectible; signed copies are sought. Later printings show a number line no longer reaching 1. No prominent cloth book-club edition; the stated First Edition and complete number line are the deciding factors.
- A Red Death — 1991 · W. W. Norton & CompanyThe first printing states "First Edition" on the copyright page and carries a full number line with the "1" present. Norton is specifically documented as one of the publishers that has left the first-edition statement standing on later printings, so when the statement and the number line disagree the number line governs — the lowest number present gives the printing. The collation is 284pp, measuring…. US W. W. Norton & Company, New York, 1991 is the true first — the census claim is confirmed. The first UK edition is a Serpent's Tail (London) paperback original of 1992, a year later; it is collected as the first British appearance but does not precede. On series order, the census note is right as to publication but worth stating precisely: this is the second published Easy Rawlins novel, following Devil in a…. No book-club issue of the Norton first is documented. Later-issue traps: the Serpent's Tail UK paperback original (1992), the US mass-market paperback (Pocket Books, ISBN 0671749897) and the Weidenfeld & Nicolson UK reissue are reprints / "first thus", not firsts.
- White Butterfly — 1992 · W. W. Norton & CompanyThe first printing is the W. W. Norton & Company, New York, 1992 hardcover (ISBN 0-393-03366-X), octavo, 272 pp., in publisher's half/quarter navy-blue cloth over light blue paper-covered boards with the spine lettered in gilt. The copyright page carries a 'First Edition' statement; Norton first printings of this period pair that statement with a number line in which the 1 is present, and because Norton is…. The census claim is correct: the true first is Norton, New York, January 1992. The first UK edition followed from Serpent's Tail (London) in 1993 and is collected as the first British edition only, not as the true first; Serpent's Tail had also issued Mosley's earlier Easy Rawlins titles in the UK, which can mislead. This is the third Easy Rawlins novel; the later Pocket Books / Washington Square Press paperbacks…. No US book-club issue of the Norton first was documented in the sources consulted. Standard book-club tells apply to any club copy encountered: a blind-stamped colophon (dot, square, circle or triangle) impressed into the rear board near the spine, no price at the jacket flap, no barcode on the jacket rear, a smaller trim size, lower-bulk paper, and absence of the publisher's number line.
- Down the River Unto the Sea — 2018 · Mulholland BooksFirst printing has 'First Edition' stated with a number line ending in 1, and the first-issue jacket shows the printed retail price. Won the Edgar Award for Best Novel in 2019. The US Mulholland Books edition (February 2018) is the true first; the UK Weidenfeld and Nicolson edition appeared the same year and is roughly contemporaneous. No meaningful book-club edition; later printings advance the number line.
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