# Is "Dictionary of the Khazars" by Milorad Pavić a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Dictionary of the Khazars by Milorad Pavić (Prosveta, Belgrade, 1984) is identified by: The true first is Hazarski rečnik: roman-leksikon u 100.000 reči, Prosveta, Belgrade, 1984, 242 pages, and it was issued from the outset in two versions — muški primerak (male copy) and ženski primerak (female copy). Serbian is the true first (Prosveta, Belgrade, 1984), and the census note is incomplete rather than wrong: the male/female split is not a Knopf invention — it originates with the 1984 Belgrade original.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The true first is Hazarski rečnik: roman-leksikon u 100.000 reči, Prosveta, Belgrade, 1984, 242 pages, and it was issued from the outset in two versions — muški primerak (male copy) and ženski primerak (female copy)
- Pavić's official site and his own essay on the book's life both state that it appeared in 1984 in both the male and the female version, with the reader given the choice of which to read, so the version designation on the 1984 title page is a point of issue, not a later marketing device
- The first edition in English is Dictionary of the Khazars: A Lexicon Novel in 100,000 Words, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1988, translated by Christina Pribicevic-Zoric, 338 pages, ISBN 0-394-57183-5, likewise published simultaneously in male and female editions with the version stated on the title page ('Male Edition' / 'Female Edition'), a few black-and-white illustrations and symbol-decorated endpapers
- Knopf firsts state 'First American Edition' on the copyright page with the Borzoi colophon and no later-printing statement; the jacket should be present and unclipped with the price at the flap
- The two versions differ in a single passage in Dr
- Dorothea Schultz's letter; published accounts give the extent as 15 lines or as 17 lines and do not agree, so cite the passage rather than a line count
- Publisher imprint reads Prosveta, Belgrade

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Milorad Pavić |
| Publisher | Prosveta, Belgrade |
| Year | 1984 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The true first is Hazarski rečnik: roman-leksikon u 100.000 reči, Prosveta, Belgrade, 1984, 242 pages, and it was issued from the outset in… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
The true first is Hazarski rečnik: roman-leksikon u 100.000 reči, Prosveta, Belgrade, 1984, 242 pages, and it was issued from the outset in two versions — muški primerak (male copy) and ženski primerak (female copy). Pavić's official site and his own essay on the book's life both state that it appeared in 1984 in both the male and the female version, with the reader given the choice of which to read, so the version designation on the 1984 title page is a point of issue, not a later marketing device. The first edition in English is Dictionary of the Khazars: A Lexicon Novel in 100,000 Words, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1988, translated by Christina Pribicevic-Zoric, 338 pages, ISBN 0-394-57183-5, likewise published simultaneously in male and female editions with the version stated on the title page ('Male Edition' / 'Female Edition'), a few black-and-white illustrations and symbol-decorated endpapers. Knopf firsts state 'First American Edition' on the copyright page with the Borzoi colophon and no later-printing statement; the jacket should be present and unclipped with the price at the flap. The two versions differ in a single passage in Dr. Dorothea Schultz's letter; published accounts give the extent as 15 lines or as 17 lines and do not agree, so cite the passage rather than a line count.

## Is this the true first?
Serbian is the true first (Prosveta, Belgrade, 1984), and the census note is incomplete rather than wrong: the male/female split is not a Knopf invention — it originates with the 1984 Belgrade original. For English the US precedes: Knopf, New York, 1988, ahead of the London editions recorded on the author's official bibliography (Hamish Hamilton, 1989, and Penguin, 1989). A complete set requires both the male and the female version at whichever level is collected — 1984 Belgrade and/or 1988 New York; a single version is an incomplete set by the author's own design.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The combined first printing of the Knopf male and female editions is recorded at 40,000 copies, so a book-club issue is not the usual trap here. The usual trap is the Vintage International paperback (ISBN 0-679-72461-3), which carries the same male/female split and is routinely offered as a 'first edition'. The later 'androgynous' (androgino) edition, which prints both versions together in one volume, is a first thus and cannot substitute for either the 1984 or the 1988 paired variants.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Dictionary of the Khazars* by Milorad Pavić a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/dictionary-of-the-khazars
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.