# Is "Doktor Zhivago (Doctor Zhivago)" by Boris Pasternak a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Doktor Zhivago (Doctor Zhivago) by Boris Pasternak (Feltrinelli, 1957) is identified by: True world-first is the Italian translation 'Il dottor Zivago', Feltrinelli, Milan, November 1957 — the first appearance anywhere, as the novel could not be published in the USSR. Italian Feltrinelli 1957 is the genuine world-first (it precedes any Russian printing).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- True world-first is the Italian translation 'Il dottor Zivago', Feltrinelli, Milan, November 1957 — the first appearance anywhere, as the novel could not be published in the USSR. The first Russian-language printing is the 1958 Mouton (The Hague) edition, distinguished by a two-page preface dated 1 August 1958, a higher page count than the Milan edition, and varying paper stocks tied to its clandestine production
- Publisher imprint reads Feltrinelli
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Boris Pasternak |
| Publisher | Feltrinelli |
| Year | 1957 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | True world-first is the Italian translation 'Il dottor Zivago', Feltrinelli, Milan, November 1957 — the first appearance anywhere, as the… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
True world-first is the Italian translation 'Il dottor Zivago', Feltrinelli, Milan, November 1957 — the first appearance anywhere, as the novel could not be published in the USSR. The first Russian-language printing is the 1958 Mouton (The Hague) edition, distinguished by a two-page preface dated 1 August 1958, a higher page count than the Milan edition, and varying paper stocks tied to its clandestine production.

## Is this the true first?
Italian Feltrinelli 1957 is the genuine world-first (it precedes any Russian printing). The 1958 Russian Mouton edition is the Russian-language first, famously linked to the CIA distribution at the 1958 Brussels World's Fair. First US/UK English editions (Pantheon US / Collins and Harvill UK, 1958) are separate first-thus.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Many Russian-text copies are later authorized or emigre reprints (e.g., University of Michigan Press, 1958-59), not the Mouton first. Some Mouton-printed copies were issued without the Feltrinelli imprint title page. The English editions are translations and should not be confused with either the Italian world-first or the Russian first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Doktor Zhivago (Doctor Zhivago)* by Boris Pasternak a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/doktor-zhivago-doctor-zhivago
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.