# Is "Captain Pantoja and the Special Service" by Mario Vargas Llosa a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Captain Pantoja and the Special Service by Mario Vargas Llosa (Harper & Row, 1978) is identified by: First US edition published by Harper & Row, New York, 1978, in hardcover; translated from the Spanish by Gregory Kolovakos and Ronald Christ. First English translation of Pantaleon y las visitadoras (Barcelona, 1973).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First US edition published by Harper & Row, New York, 1978, in hardcover; translated from the Spanish by Gregory Kolovakos and Ronald Christ
- First English-language appearance of the novel
- Publisher imprint reads Harper & Row
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Mario Vargas Llosa |
| Publisher | Harper & Row |
| Year | 1978 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First US edition published by Harper & Row, New York, 1978, in hardcover; translated from… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
First US edition published by Harper & Row, New York, 1978, in hardcover; translated from the Spanish by Gregory Kolovakos and Ronald Christ. First English-language appearance of the novel.

## Is this the true first?
First English translation of Pantaleon y las visitadoras (Barcelona, 1973). The true first UK edition was published by Jonathan Cape in 1978; the Faber & Faber issue is a later (1987) softcover reissue, not the first UK printing.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later reprint and paperback editions exist; identify the first by the 1978 Harper & Row imprint. No distinctive book-club point is reliably documented for this title.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Captain Pantoja and the Special Service* by Mario Vargas Llosa a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/captain-pantoja-and-the-special-service
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-03.