# Is "As I Lay Dying" by William Faulkner a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner (Jonathan Cape and Harrison Smith, 1930) is identified by: First edition, first issue: published by Jonathan Cape and Harrison Smith, New York, 1930, in publisher's beige cloth stamped in brown with pictorial dust jacket. The US Cape and Smith 1930 edition is the true first; the UK Chatto and Windus edition of 1935 is later.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, first issue: published by Jonathan Cape and Harrison Smith, New York, 1930, in publisher's beige cloth stamped in brown with pictorial dust jacket
- The defining first-issue point is the dropped or misaligned 'I' on page 11
- The first printing comprised 2,522 copies; the plate for page 11 was replaced after roughly the first 750 copies, so only those earliest copies show the misaligned 'I'
- Copies with the corrected page 11 are the later state of the first printing
- Publisher imprint reads Jonathan Cape and Harrison Smith
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | William Faulkner |
| Publisher | Jonathan Cape and Harrison Smith |
| Year | 1930 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, first issue: published by Jonathan Cape and Harrison Smith, New York, 1930, in publisher's beige cloth stamped in brown with… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
First edition, first issue: published by Jonathan Cape and Harrison Smith, New York, 1930, in publisher's beige cloth stamped in brown with pictorial dust jacket. The defining first-issue point is the dropped or misaligned 'I' on page 11. The first printing comprised 2,522 copies; the plate for page 11 was replaced after roughly the first 750 copies, so only those earliest copies show the misaligned 'I'. Copies with the corrected page 11 are the later state of the first printing.

## Is this the true first?
The US Cape and Smith 1930 edition is the true first; the UK Chatto and Windus edition of 1935 is later. The first state is distinguished by the dropped/misaligned 'I' on page 11.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Within the first printing, the corrected page 11 marks the later state. No notable book-club first edition.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *As I Lay Dying* by William Faulkner a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/as-i-lay-dying
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.