# Is "Here Lies Holly Springs" by MacKinlay Kantor a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Here Lies Holly Springs by MacKinlay Kantor (Pynson Printers, 1938) is identified by: True first is the Pynson Printers signed limited edition: a small quarto designed by Elmer Adler, printed on Italian handmade paper, with a title-page drawing and several text illustrations by Donald McKay. The first edition was published by Pynson Printers, New York, not Coward-McCann.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- True first is the Pynson Printers signed limited edition: a small quarto designed by Elmer Adler, printed on Italian handmade paper, with a title-page drawing and several text illustrations by Donald McKay
- Issued in a small printing (roughly 300 copies) as a Christmas keepsake, typically signed by the author
- Publisher imprint reads Pynson Printers
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | MacKinlay Kantor |
| Publisher | Pynson Printers |
| Year | 1938 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | True first is the Pynson Printers signed limited edition: a small quarto designed by Elmer Adler, printed on Italian handmade paper, with a… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
True first is the Pynson Printers signed limited edition: a small quarto designed by Elmer Adler, printed on Italian handmade paper, with a title-page drawing and several text illustrations by Donald McKay. Issued in a small printing (roughly 300 copies) as a Christmas keepsake, typically signed by the author.

## Is this the true first?
The first edition was published by Pynson Printers, New York, not Coward-McCann. It is a privately printed signed limited keepsake, not a trade book.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Because the first appearance was a small signed limited, there is no ordinary trade first printing under Coward-McCann; later collected or anthologized appearances are not the first edition.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Here Lies Holly Springs* by MacKinlay Kantor a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/here-lies-holly-springs
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.