# Is "A Flag for Sunrise" by Robert Stone a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of A Flag for Sunrise by Robert Stone (Alfred A. Knopf, 1981) is identified by: True first edition: Alfred A. US Knopf (New York), 1981 is the collected true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- True first edition: Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1981
- 439 pp., quarter-cloth binding
- The first printing is identified by 'FIRST EDITION' stated on the copyright page with no references to any subsequent printing (per fedpo.com and corroborating ABAA dealer descriptions)
- A remainder mark (a house stamp to the page edges) is frequently present on this title; copies without the stamp are the exception
- The dust jacket is priced at the front flap
- Publisher imprint reads Alfred A. Knopf
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Robert Stone |
| Publisher | Alfred A. Knopf |
| Year | 1981 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | True first edition: Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1981 |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
True first edition: Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1981; 439 pp., quarter-cloth binding. The first printing is identified by 'FIRST EDITION' stated on the copyright page with no references to any subsequent printing (per fedpo.com and corroborating ABAA dealer descriptions). A remainder mark (a house stamp to the page edges) is frequently present on this title; copies without the stamp are the exception. The dust jacket is priced at the front flap.

## Is this the true first?
US Knopf (New York), 1981 is the collected true first. UK first: Secker & Warburg, London, 1981 (ISBN 0-436-49681-3) — this CORRECTS the census note of '1982'; both editions appeared in 1981, but the Knopf is the established true first. No original-language precedence issue.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition noted as a trap. The common remainder stamp is a distribution artifact, not a printing point — it does not make a copy a later printing.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *A Flag for Sunrise* by Robert Stone a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/a-flag-for-sunrise
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.