# Is "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Connor a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor (Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1955) is identified by: First edition, first issue has "first edition" on the copyright page under the Harcourt, Brace imprint, together with the first-issue typographical point "tyring" for "trying" on page 125 (corrected in later printings). US Harcourt, Brace 1955 is the true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, first issue has "first edition" on the copyright page under the Harcourt, Brace imprint, together with the first-issue typographical point "tyring" for "trying" on page 125 (corrected in later printings)
- Bound in black boards with the spine lettered in orange and pink
- Issued in the original dust jacket bearing its printed price on the flap; the jacket's rear panel reads "Harcourt, Brace and Company" on early printings (changing to "Harcourt, Brace & World" from the fifth printing, October 1961)
- This story collection in the first is scarce
- Publisher imprint reads Harcourt, Brace and Company
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Flannery O'Connor |
| Publisher | Harcourt, Brace and Company |
| Year | 1955 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, first issue has "first edition" on the copyright page under the Harcourt, Brace imprint, together with the first-issue… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
First edition, first issue has "first edition" on the copyright page under the Harcourt, Brace imprint, together with the first-issue typographical point "tyring" for "trying" on page 125 (corrected in later printings). Bound in black boards with the spine lettered in orange and pink. Issued in the original dust jacket bearing its printed price on the flap; the jacket's rear panel reads "Harcourt, Brace and Company" on early printings (changing to "Harcourt, Brace & World" from the fifth printing, October 1961). This story collection in the first is scarce.

## Is this the true first?
US Harcourt, Brace 1955 is the true first. The UK collection appeared under a different title ('The Artificial Nigger and Other Tales', Neville Spearman, 1957).

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Book-club edition has a blind-stamp to the rear board and bulkier paper, lacks the first-printing configuration, and does not show the "tyring" typo.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *A Good Man Is Hard to Find* by Flannery O'Connor a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/a-good-man-is-hard-to-find
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.