# Is "Exterminator!" by William S. Burroughs a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Exterminator! by William S. Burroughs (The Viking Press, 1973) is identified by: Cloth in dust jacket; first edition, first printing of roughly 7,500 copies with no later printing code. True first is the 1973 Viking Press New York hardcover.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Cloth in dust jacket; first edition, first printing of roughly 7,500 copies with no later printing code
- The exclamation point distinguishes this 1973 collection from the 1960 broadside The Exterminator
- Publisher imprint reads The Viking Press
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | William S. Burroughs |
| Publisher | The Viking Press |
| Year | 1973 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Cloth in dust jacket; first edition, first printing of roughly 7,500 copies with no later… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
Cloth in dust jacket; first edition, first printing of roughly 7,500 copies with no later printing code. The exclamation point distinguishes this 1973 collection from the 1960 broadside The Exterminator.

## Is this the true first?
True first is the 1973 Viking Press New York hardcover.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book club; the UK Calder & Boyars edition of 1974 is the UK first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Exterminator!* by William S. Burroughs a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/exterminator
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-03.