# Is "A Drop of the Hard Stuff" by Lawrence Block a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of A Drop of the Hard Stuff by Lawrence Block (Mulholland/Little, Brown, 2011) is identified by: Trade first: copyright page states 'First Edition' and carries a full number line whose lowest digit is 1 on the first printing, published by Mulholland Books (Little, Brown) in 2011; the first-state dust jacket should retain its printed front-flap price (present, unclipped). A signed, numbered limited edition of one hundred copies from The Mysterious Bookshop, bound in marbled boards with a blue leather spine stamped in gold and issued without a dust jacket, precedes the trade edition.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Trade first: copyright page states 'First Edition' and carries a full number line whose lowest digit is 1 on the first printing, published by Mulholland Books (Little, Brown) in 2011; the first-state dust jacket should retain its printed front-flap price (present, unclipped)
- Publisher imprint reads Mulholland/Little, Brown
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Lawrence Block |
| Publisher | Mulholland/Little, Brown |
| Year | 2011 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Trade first: copyright page states 'First Edition' and carries a full number line whose… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Trade first: copyright page states 'First Edition' and carries a full number line whose lowest digit is 1 on the first printing, published by Mulholland Books (Little, Brown) in 2011; the first-state dust jacket should retain its printed front-flap price (present, unclipped).

## Is this the true first?
A signed, numbered limited edition of one hundred copies from The Mysterious Bookshop, bound in marbled boards with a blue leather spine stamped in gold and issued without a dust jacket, precedes the trade edition. The US Mulholland (Little, Brown) hardcover is the true first trade edition; the seventeenth and final Matthew Scudder novel.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
None significant.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *A Drop of the Hard Stuff* by Lawrence Block a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/a-drop-of-the-hard-stuff
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-03.