# Is "Aaron's Rod" by D.H. Lawrence a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Aaron's Rod by D.H. Lawrence (Thomas Seltzer, 1922) is identified by: True first edition published by Thomas Seltzer, New York, April 1922 (Roberts A21a); title page dated 1922 with no additional printing statement on the copyright page. American true first: Thomas Seltzer (New York), April 1922, precedes the first English edition, Martin Secker (London), June 1922, by roughly two months.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- True first edition published by Thomas Seltzer, New York, April 1922 (Roberts A21a); title page dated 1922 with no additional printing statement on the copyright page
- Bound in vertical-ruled grey-blue ribbed cloth lettered on spine and upper cover — Roberts records variant bindings (lettering seen in gilt and in blue) with no established priority among the variants — and the first-issue dust jacket carries the price at the flap (priced jacket)
- The Seltzer text is the complete, unexpurgated text
- Publisher imprint reads Thomas Seltzer
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | D.H. Lawrence |
| Publisher | Thomas Seltzer |
| Year | 1922 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | True first edition published by Thomas Seltzer, New York, April 1922 (Roberts A21a); title page dated 1922 with no additional printing… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
True first edition published by Thomas Seltzer, New York, April 1922 (Roberts A21a); title page dated 1922 with no additional printing statement on the copyright page. Bound in vertical-ruled grey-blue ribbed cloth lettered on spine and upper cover — Roberts records variant bindings (lettering seen in gilt and in blue) with no established priority among the variants — and the first-issue dust jacket carries the price at the flap (priced jacket). The Seltzer text is the complete, unexpurgated text.

## Is this the true first?
American true first: Thomas Seltzer (New York), April 1922, precedes the first English edition, Martin Secker (London), June 1922, by roughly two months. The Secker edition is textually expurgated (Secker cut passages over a character's possible identification with Norman Douglas), so the Seltzer is both the earlier and the complete true first. Census precedence confirmed.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The Martin Secker (London) June 1922 edition is a first-English / first-thus and is bowdlerized — not the true first. Later Seltzer printings bear printing statements and are readily distinguished from the April 1922 first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Aaron's Rod* by D.H. Lawrence a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/aarons-rod
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.