# Is "Gentle Annie" by MacKinlay Kantor a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Gentle Annie by MacKinlay Kantor (Coward-McCann, 1942) is identified by: First printing in publisher's cloth bearing the Coward-McCann imprint, with no later-printing statement on the copyright page. US first edition.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First printing in publisher's cloth bearing the Coward-McCann imprint, with no later-printing statement on the copyright page
- Subtitled a Western novel; the basis for the 1944 MGM film
- Publisher imprint reads Coward-McCann
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | MacKinlay Kantor |
| Publisher | Coward-McCann |
| Year | 1942 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First printing in publisher's cloth bearing the Coward-McCann imprint, with no later-printing statement on the copyright page |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First printing in publisher's cloth bearing the Coward-McCann imprint, with no later-printing statement on the copyright page. Subtitled a Western novel; the basis for the 1944 MGM film.

## Is this the true first?
US first edition. The hardcover Coward-McCann printing precedes the paperback reprints.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
A Popular Library paperback reprint followed and is not the first edition; the 1944 film tie-in does not change the hardcover's primacy.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Gentle Annie* by MacKinlay Kantor a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/gentle-annie
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.