# Is "Epitaph of a Small Winner" by Machado de Assis a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Epitaph of a Small Winner by Machado de Assis (Tipographia Nacional, Rio de Janeiro, 1881) is identified by: True first: the novel ran serially in Revista Brasileira (1880) and appeared in book form as Memorias Postumas de Bras Cubas, Tipographia Nacional, Rio de Janeiro, 1881 (roughly 3,000-4,000 copies; a copy is held at the Fundacao Casa de Rui Barbosa). Original-language true first is the 1881 Rio de Janeiro (Tipographia Nacional) book edition.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- True first: the novel ran serially in Revista Brasileira
- and appeared in book form as Memorias Postumas de Bras Cubas, Tipographia Nacional, Rio de Janeiro, 1881 (roughly 3,000-4,000 copies; a copy is held at the Fundacao Casa de Rui Barbosa)
- English is a dual-title minefield: William L. Grossman's translation FIRST appeared in an obscure self-financed Sao Paulo printing of 1951 titled 'The Posthumous Memoirs of Braz Cubas,' which barely circulated; the widely collected first is the first US trade edition, 'Epitaph of a Small Winner,' Noonday Press, New York, 1952 (published 14 July 1952), translated by Grossman with illustrations by Shari Frisch and stating 'first American edition.' A UK edition (W. H. Allen, London, 1953) used the SAME title, 'Epitaph of a Small Winner.'
- Publisher imprint reads Tipographia Nacional, Rio de Janeiro
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Machado de Assis |
| Publisher | Tipographia Nacional, Rio de Janeiro |
| Year | 1881 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | True first: the novel ran serially in Revista Brasileira |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
True first: the novel ran serially in Revista Brasileira (1880) and appeared in book form as Memorias Postumas de Bras Cubas, Tipographia Nacional, Rio de Janeiro, 1881 (roughly 3,000-4,000 copies; a copy is held at the Fundacao Casa de Rui Barbosa). English is a dual-title minefield: William L. Grossman's translation FIRST appeared in an obscure self-financed Sao Paulo printing of 1951 titled 'The Posthumous Memoirs of Braz Cubas,' which barely circulated; the widely collected first is the first US trade edition, 'Epitaph of a Small Winner,' Noonday Press, New York, 1952 (published 14 July 1952), translated by Grossman with illustrations by Shari Frisch and stating 'first American edition.' A UK edition (W. H. Allen, London, 1953) used the SAME title, 'Epitaph of a Small Winner.'

## Is this the true first?
Original-language true first is the 1881 Rio de Janeiro (Tipographia Nacional) book edition. Under the title 'Epitaph of a Small Winner,' the US Noonday 1952 is first and precedes the UK W. H. Allen 1953; but the actual first-ever English rendering is Grossman's scarce 1951 Sao Paulo printing under the variant title 'The Posthumous Memoirs of Braz Cubas.' Do not conflate the modern re-translations titled 'The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas' (Rabassa, Oxford 1997; Thomson-DeVeaux, Penguin 2020) with the 1952 Grossman first — different translations, separate 'firsts thus.'

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Noonday later reissued the title in wrappers and under the Farrar, Straus / Noonday imprint — reprints of the 1952 setting. No book-club edition is a standard point; the scarce 1951 Sao Paulo printing is a precedence curiosity, not a book club.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Epitaph of a Small Winner* by Machado de Assis a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/epitaph-of-a-small-winner
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.