# Is "In the Heart of the Country" by J. M. Coetzee a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of In the Heart of the Country by J. M. Coetzee (Secker & Warburg, 1977) is identified by: First edition: Secker and Warburg, London, 1977 (with Harper and Row, New York, 1977 near-simultaneous). Unlike Dusklands, the true first of this title is the 1977 UK Secker and Warburg, with Harper and Row US 1977 near-simultaneous, not Ravan, which came in 1978.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition: Secker and Warburg, London, 1977 (with Harper and Row, New York, 1977 near-simultaneous)
- Cloth in dust jacket
- The South African Ravan Press edition followed in 1978 and famously left the Afrikaans dialogue untranslated, a distinct first-thus state
- The US edition appeared under the variant title From the Heart of the Country
- Publisher imprint reads Secker & Warburg
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | J. M. Coetzee |
| Publisher | Secker & Warburg |
| Year | 1977 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition: Secker and Warburg, London, 1977 (with Harper and Row, New York, 1977 near-simultaneous) |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First edition: Secker and Warburg, London, 1977 (with Harper and Row, New York, 1977 near-simultaneous). Cloth in dust jacket. The South African Ravan Press edition followed in 1978 and famously left the Afrikaans dialogue untranslated, a distinct first-thus state. The US edition appeared under the variant title From the Heart of the Country.

## Is this the true first?
Unlike Dusklands, the true first of this title is the 1977 UK Secker and Warburg, with Harper and Row US 1977 near-simultaneous, not Ravan, which came in 1978. The 1978 Ravan edition with untranslated Afrikaans dialogue is a separate collectible state.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The 1978 Ravan edition (untranslated-Afrikaans state) and later Penguin and Vintage paperbacks are later issues. Note the US title variant From the Heart of the Country.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *In the Heart of the Country* by J. M. Coetzee a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/in-the-heart-of-the-country
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.