# Is "A River Never Sleeps" by Roderick L. Haig-Brown a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of A River Never Sleeps by Roderick L. Haig-Brown (William Morrow, 1946) is identified by: First US printing: viii, 352 pp, black-and-white illustrations by Louis Darling (twelve full-page plates); William Morrow imprint dated 1946 on the title page; octavo in original beige cloth, spine lettered in blue with a blue fish illustration on the upper board. First US edition (Morrow, 1946) was issued simultaneously with the first Canadian edition.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First US printing: viii, 352 pp, black-and-white illustrations by Louis Darling (twelve full-page plates)
- William Morrow imprint dated 1946 on the title page; octavo in original beige cloth, spine lettered in blue with a blue fish illustration on the upper board
- Publisher imprint reads William Morrow
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Roderick L. Haig-Brown |
| Publisher | William Morrow |
| Year | 1946 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First US printing: viii, 352 pp, black-and-white illustrations by Louis Darling (twelve full-page plates) |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First US printing: viii, 352 pp, black-and-white illustrations by Louis Darling (twelve full-page plates); William Morrow imprint dated 1946 on the title page; octavo in original beige cloth, spine lettered in blue with a blue fish illustration on the upper board.

## Is this the true first?
First US edition (Morrow, 1946) was issued simultaneously with the first Canadian edition. The first UK edition (Collins, 1948) is a separate, later 'first thus' with different pagination and Stephen Russ vignettes.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Lyons Press and other later reissues (including those with added introductions) are 'first thus' reprints. Confirm the 1946 Morrow imprint to distinguish from the 1948 Collins UK first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *A River Never Sleeps* by Roderick L. Haig-Brown a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/a-river-never-sleeps
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.