# Is "If on a winter's night a traveler (Se una notte d'inverno un viaggiatore)" by Italo Calvino a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of If on a winter's night a traveler (Se una notte d'inverno un viaggiatore) by Italo Calvino (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1981) is identified by: First US edition in English, translated by William Weaver. True first appearance in English is the US Harcourt edition of 1981, preceding the UK Secker & Warburg edition of the same year.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First US edition in English, translated by William Weaver
- The first printing states 'First edition' on the copyright page with the letterline 'B C D E' (the suppressed 'A' is the Harcourt convention for a first printing)
- Dust jacket priced 12.95 to the front flap, unclipped
- The jacket lettering and title typography are a documented design feature of the first edition
- Publisher imprint reads Harcourt Brace Jovanovich
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Italo Calvino |
| Publisher | Harcourt Brace Jovanovich |
| Year | 1981 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First US edition in English, translated by William Weaver |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First US edition in English, translated by William Weaver. The first printing states 'First edition' on the copyright page with the letterline 'B C D E' (the suppressed 'A' is the Harcourt convention for a first printing). Dust jacket priced 12.95 to the front flap, unclipped. The jacket lettering and title typography are a documented design feature of the first edition.

## Is this the true first?
True first appearance in English is the US Harcourt edition of 1981, preceding the UK Secker & Warburg edition of the same year. The Italian original was published by Einaudi in 1979.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No significant book-club issue affects the points here; later trade paperbacks carry number lines and are not the first edition.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *If on a winter's night a traveler (Se una notte d'inverno un viaggiatore)* by Italo Calvino a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/if-on-a-winters-night-a-traveler-se-una-notte-dinverno-un-vi
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.