# Is "A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams (New Directions, 1947) is identified by: First edition, first printing, New Directions, 1947, 171 pp., with a frontispiece reproducing Lester Polakov's sketch for the Broadway set. US New Directions 1947 is the true first; the first UK edition (John Lehmann, London) did not follow until 1949.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, first printing, New Directions, 1947, 171 pp., with a frontispiece reproducing Lester Polakov's sketch for the Broadway set
- First state has the textual error on page 161, line 17: the speech is prefixed 'Stella' where it should read 'Blanche.' Issued in Alvin Lustig's pink pictorial paper boards, the board design identical to his celebrated Lustig dust jacket (the boards are sometimes described as lavender/lilac)
- Jacket priced, with the price present at the front flap
- No statement of later printing on the copyright page
- Publisher imprint reads New Directions
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Tennessee Williams |
| Publisher | New Directions |
| Year | 1947 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, first printing, New Directions, 1947, 171 pp., with a frontispiece reproducing Lester Polakov's sketch for the Broadway set |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First edition, first printing, New Directions, 1947, 171 pp., with a frontispiece reproducing Lester Polakov's sketch for the Broadway set. First state has the textual error on page 161, line 17: the speech is prefixed 'Stella' where it should read 'Blanche.' Issued in Alvin Lustig's pink pictorial paper boards, the board design identical to his celebrated Lustig dust jacket (the boards are sometimes described as lavender/lilac). Jacket priced, with the price present at the front flap. No statement of later printing on the copyright page.

## Is this the true first?
US New Directions 1947 is the true first; the first UK edition (John Lehmann, London) did not follow until 1949. There is no separate signed/limited issue — 'signed' copies are author-inscribed trade copies.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Not a book-club target. Reprints (second printing onward) state the printing on the copyright page and correct the page 161 'Stella'/'Blanche' error. The pink Lustig boards and priced Lustig jacket paired with the uncorrected page 161 point are the key first-printing identifiers.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *A Streetcar Named Desire* by Tennessee Williams a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/a-streetcar-named-desire
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.