# Is "Freedom" by Jonathan Franzen a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Freedom by Jonathan Franzen (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2010) is identified by: First printing has a complete number line ending in 1 on the copyright page and the Farrar, Straus and Giroux colophon. The US Farrar, Straus and Giroux hardcover is the true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First printing has a complete number line ending in 1 on the copyright page and the Farrar, Straus and Giroux colophon
- The dust jacket front flap carries the original printed price
- ISBN 978-0-374-15846-0
- Publisher imprint reads Farrar, Straus and Giroux
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Jonathan Franzen |
| Publisher | Farrar, Straus and Giroux |
| Year | 2010 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First printing has a complete number line ending in 1 on the copyright page and the Farrar, Straus and Giroux colophon |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First printing has a complete number line ending in 1 on the copyright page and the Farrar, Straus and Giroux colophon. The dust jacket front flap carries the original printed price. ISBN 978-0-374-15846-0.

## Is this the true first?
The US Farrar, Straus and Giroux hardcover is the true first. In Britain the first HarperCollins printing was found to use an uncorrected early draft and was recalled, making those recalled British copies a separate and notable textual variant; the US first is unaffected and remains the true first.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No US book-club edition issue affecting the true first; later FSG printings advance the number line so the lowest number is greater than 1.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Freedom* by Jonathan Franzen a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/freedom
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.