# Is "A Red Death" by Walter Mosley a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of A Red Death by Walter Mosley (W. W. Norton & Company, 1991) is identified by: The first printing states "First Edition" on the copyright page and carries a full number line with the "1" present. US W.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The 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 approximately 5¾ x 8½ inches, bound in half black cloth with gold paper over boards
- The jacket should be unclipped with the publisher's price present at the front flap; dealers describe unclipped copies as the correct first-issue state, but no distinct second jacket state is documented, so read this simply as an unclipped, correctly priced flap
- No first-state text error is recorded for this title
- Publisher imprint reads W. W. Norton & Company
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Walter Mosley |
| Publisher | W. W. Norton & Company |
| Year | 1991 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The first printing states "First Edition" on the copyright page and carries a full number line with the "1" present |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
The 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 approximately 5¾ x 8½ inches, bound in half black cloth with gold paper over boards. The jacket should be unclipped with the publisher's price present at the front flap; dealers describe unclipped copies as the correct first-issue state, but no distinct second jacket state is documented, so read this simply as an unclipped, correctly priced flap. No first-state text error is recorded for this title.

## Is this the true first?
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 Blue Dress (Norton, 1990). Gone Fishin', the earliest in internal chronology, was written first but not published until 1997, so "second Easy Rawlins" describes publication order, not the sequence of the stories.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
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.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *A Red Death* by Walter Mosley a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/a-red-death
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.