- Harcourt, Brace and Howe (1919 to 1921) marked a first printing with a small figure 1 on the copyright page, or with a "Published (month, year)" line, and numbered or noted later printings.
- From the early 1930s first printings state "First Edition" on the copyright page. Harcourt, Brace and World (1960 to 1970) kept the statement.
- Under Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, from 1973 to 1983 a first printing reads "First Edition" above a letter row starting with B (for example "BCDE"), not A.
- From 1983 a first printing reads "First Edition" with a letter row starting with A. A row starting with B, or a copy without the "First Edition" statement, is a later printing, so check both.
- A jacket with no price on the front flap, on a book smaller and cheaper than the trade edition, marks a book club edition.
Publisher
Harcourt, Brace
Harcourt, Brace and Company was the New York publisher founded in 1919 by Alfred Harcourt and Donald Brace, first publisher of Main Street, All the King's Men and Wise Blood.
- Editions tracked
- 174
- First editions
- 117
- Books
- 174
- Years
- 1920 to 2000
Harcourt, Brace is a publisher active from 1920. We track 174 editions it published between 1920 and 2000, 117 of them first editions across 174 books. How Harcourt, Brace marked its first editions is set out below, with a checker for the year on your title page.
About Harcourt, Brace
Harcourt, Brace and Company was a New York publisher founded in 1919 by Alfred Harcourt and Donald Brace, publishing American and British fiction, poetry, non-fiction and, later, school books.
It began as Harcourt, Brace and Howe, with the editor Will David Howe as third partner, and became Harcourt, Brace and Company when Howe left in 1921. Sinclair Lewis's Main Street came out under the Howe imprint in 1920. The list went on to include Lewis, Virginia Woolf, T. S. Eliot, James Thurber, George Orwell and Robert Penn Warren, whose All the King's Men is on its backlist. Flannery O'Connor's first novel, Wise Blood, followed on 15 May 1952, after her agent and the editor Robert Giroux persuaded Rinehart to release it. Later firsts include David Guterson's Snow Falling on Cedars (1994).
In 1960 the firm merged with the educational test publisher World Book Company to become Harcourt, Brace and World, and in 1970 it was renamed Harcourt Brace Jovanovich after William Jovanovich, president since 1954. It was based in New York until 1982, later in San Diego. Reed Elsevier bought Harcourt in 2001, and Houghton Mifflin acquired it in 2007 to form Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Holding a copy? The first edition checker shows Harcourt, Brace's practice for the year on your title page.
Identification
How to identify Harcourt, Brace first editions
Authors
Books
Published by Harcourt, Brace
Frequently asked questions
How do I identify a Harcourt, Brace first edition?
- Harcourt, Brace and Howe (1919 to 1921) marked a first printing with a small figure 1 on the copyright page, or with a "Published (month, year)" line, and numbered or noted later printings. - From the early 1930s first printings state "First Edition" on the copyright page. Harcourt, Brace and World (1960 to 1970) kept the statement. - Under Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, from 1973 to 1983 a first pr
How many Harcourt, Brace books does MyVolumes track?
We track 174 editions published by Harcourt, Brace, 117 of them first editions, across 174 books.
Where these facts come from
- Harcourt (publisher), Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
- Main Street (novel), Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
- Wise Blood, Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
- First Edition Identification by Publisher, ILAB (ilab.org)
- Identifying First Editions, Pt. 2, IOBA (ioba.org)
- Identifying Book Club Editions, IOBA, 2016 (ioba.org)
- Identifying First Editions, StephenKing.com (stephenking.com)
Every fact on this page was checked against the sources listed. Checked 3 November 2026. Reviewed by Harriet Ellis; read how we check facts.