# Is "Author's Choice" by MacKinlay Kantor a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Author's Choice by MacKinlay Kantor (Coward-McCann, 1944) is identified by: First printing, Coward-McCann, New York, 1944, of this collection titled 'Author's Choice: 40 Stories' — forty selected stories, each accompanied by the author's own notes and commentary on why the story was written and how it was received. US first edition; published by Coward-McCann in New York, 1944.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First printing, Coward-McCann, New York, 1944, of this collection titled 'Author's Choice: 40 Stories' — forty selected stories, each accompanied by the author's own notes and commentary on why the story was written and how it was received
- Approximately 497 pages, bound in black cloth with gilt lettering to the spine, with illustrated (pictorial) endpapers front and rear, issued in a priced pictorial dust wrapper; the wartime-paper jacket is fragile and often shows edge wear
- Publisher imprint reads Coward-McCann
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | MacKinlay Kantor |
| Publisher | Coward-McCann |
| Year | 1944 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First printing, Coward-McCann, New York, 1944, of this collection titled 'Author's Choice: 40 Stories' — forty selected stories, each… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First printing, Coward-McCann, New York, 1944, of this collection titled 'Author's Choice: 40 Stories' — forty selected stories, each accompanied by the author's own notes and commentary on why the story was written and how it was received. Approximately 497 pages, bound in black cloth with gilt lettering to the spine, with illustrated (pictorial) endpapers front and rear, issued in a priced pictorial dust wrapper; the wartime-paper jacket is fragile and often shows edge wear.

## Is this the true first?
US first edition; published by Coward-McCann in New York, 1944.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later printings exist; copies lacking the dust jacket and reprint issues are common. Confirm the Coward-McCann 1944 imprint and the priced first-issue jacket.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Author's Choice* by MacKinlay Kantor a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/authors-choice
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.