# Is "Dog Soldiers" by Robert Stone a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Dog Soldiers by Robert Stone (Houghton Mifflin Company, 1974) is identified by: First edition, first printing: Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1974. The census claim is confirmed.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, first printing: Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1974. 'First Printing' is stated on the copyright page — the primary test, corroborated independently by fedpo.com and by dealer cataloguing ('first edition (stated first printing)')
- Collation 342 pages, octavo
- Bound in light brown cloth, lettered in black on the upper cover, the spine lettered in black and gilt; orange topstain
- Jacket design by Paul Bacon
- Priced jacket, price present at the upper corner of the front flap
- Stone's second book
- Publisher imprint reads Houghton Mifflin Company

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Robert Stone |
| Publisher | Houghton Mifflin Company |
| Year | 1974 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, first printing: Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1974. 'First Printing' is stated on the copyright page — the primary test… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
First edition, first printing: Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1974. 'First Printing' is stated on the copyright page — the primary test, corroborated independently by fedpo.com and by dealer cataloguing ('first edition (stated first printing)'). Collation 342 pages, octavo. Bound in light brown cloth, lettered in black on the upper cover, the spine lettered in black and gilt; orange topstain. Jacket design by Paul Bacon. Priced jacket, price present at the upper corner of the front flap. Stone's second book. Later printings are identified by a number line on the copyright page in place of, or alongside, the printing statement — a fourth-printing copy so identified was seen during this pass.

## Is this the true first?
The census claim is confirmed. The US Houghton Mifflin (Boston) 1974 edition is the true first. The first UK edition is Secker & Warburg, London, 1975, and carries a notable wrinkle worth recording: it is a mixed issue, with Secker & Warburg stated as publisher on the title and copyright pages but Houghton Mifflin appearing on the spine and dust jacket, no price present on the jacket, and a text block slightly bulkier than the American first. Stone's bibliographer Ken Lopez notes the British edition is scarce. The UK issue is collected in its own right but is preceded by the American first. Winner (shared) of the 1975 National Book Award for Fiction.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Book club copies of this title exist and are encountered, but no source consulted documented their specific tells, so no club points ship here. The reliable test is the copyright page: a copy lacking the stated 'First Printing', or carrying a number line indicating a later printing, is not the first. Do not use the absence of a jacket price as a club tell for this title — the first UK trade issue also has no jacket price.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Dog Soldiers* by Robert Stone a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/dog-soldiers
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.