# Is "Alexander's Bridge" by Willa Cather a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Alexander's Bridge by Willa Cather (Houghton Mifflin Company, 1912) is identified by: First edition, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston & New York, April 1912; Cather's first novel, ~175pp. US Houghton Mifflin (April 1912) is the true first and precedes the first English edition, William Heinemann, London (August 1912) — a genuine TITLE-VARIANT TRAP: Heinemann published it retitled 'Alexander's Bridges' (plural), brown cloth with green spine and gilt spine lettering, with four F.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston & New York, April 1912
- Cather's first novel, ~175pp
- Bound in purple/plum cloth with titles stamped in gilt to front board and spine
- Reference: Crane A5.a.i
- Two states are recognized: dealers describe the common copies as the 'usual second issue with the title page preceding the half-title page,' implying a scarcer earlier state with the half-title placement reversed — verify leaf order
- Two dust-jacket variants also exist: an earlier typographic jacket (Crane 'A') and a slightly later pictorial jacket (Crane 'B') bearing F. Graham Cootes's illustration of a man and woman dining, with a 'New Fiction' list to the rear panel
- Publisher imprint reads Houghton Mifflin Company

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Willa Cather |
| Publisher | Houghton Mifflin Company |
| Year | 1912 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston & New York, April 1912 |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First edition, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston & New York, April 1912; Cather's first novel, ~175pp. Bound in purple/plum cloth with titles stamped in gilt to front board and spine. Reference: Crane A5.a.i. Two states are recognized: dealers describe the common copies as the 'usual second issue with the title page preceding the half-title page,' implying a scarcer earlier state with the half-title placement reversed — verify leaf order. Two dust-jacket variants also exist: an earlier typographic jacket (Crane 'A') and a slightly later pictorial jacket (Crane 'B') bearing F. Graham Cootes's illustration of a man and woman dining, with a 'New Fiction' list to the rear panel.

## Is this the true first?
US Houghton Mifflin (April 1912) is the true first and precedes the first English edition, William Heinemann, London (August 1912) — a genuine TITLE-VARIANT TRAP: Heinemann published it retitled 'Alexander's Bridges' (plural), brown cloth with green spine and gilt spine lettering, with four F. Graham Cootes plates. The novel had first appeared serially as 'Alexander's Masquerade' in McClure's Magazine; both the singular US 'Bridge' and the plural UK 'Bridges' book titles are collected, with the US the primary first.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No relevant early book-club issue; the 1922 Houghton Mifflin reissue adds Cather's new preface and is a 'first thus,' not the first edition. Modern reprints are clearly later.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Alexander's Bridge* by Willa Cather a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/alexanders-bridge
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.