# Is "Dusklands" by J. M. Coetzee a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Dusklands by J. M. Coetzee (Ravan Press, 1974) is identified by: First edition, Ravan Press, Johannesburg, April 1974. Ravan Press, Johannesburg, 1974 is unequivocally the true first edition, preceding any overseas issue by eight years.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, Ravan Press, Johannesburg, April 1974
- Coetzee's first book, a scarce small-press South African issue
- Grey cloth lettered in gilt to the spine, in a dust jacket reproducing a Namaqualand watercolour attributed to Thomas Baines; octavo, 134 pages
- No later-printing line on the true first
- The two novellas are The Vietnam Project and The Narrative of Jacobus Coetzee
- Publisher imprint reads Ravan Press
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | J. M. Coetzee |
| Publisher | Ravan Press |
| Year | 1974 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, Ravan Press, Johannesburg, April 1974 |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First edition, Ravan Press, Johannesburg, April 1974. Coetzee's first book, a scarce small-press South African issue. Grey cloth lettered in gilt to the spine, in a dust jacket reproducing a Namaqualand watercolour attributed to Thomas Baines; octavo, 134 pages. No later-printing line on the true first. The two novellas are The Vietnam Project and The Narrative of Jacobus Coetzee.

## Is this the true first?
Ravan Press, Johannesburg, 1974 is unequivocally the true first edition, preceding any overseas issue by eight years. A cornerstone Coetzee point: do not mistake the 1982 UK Secker and Warburg for the first.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Secker and Warburg, London, 1982 is the first UK edition and Penguin, New York, 1985 is the first US edition; both are later first-thus issues, not the true first. The Ravan 1974 is the only true first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Dusklands* by J. M. Coetzee a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/dusklands
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.