# Is "Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie" by Maya Angelou a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie by Maya Angelou (Random House, New York, 1971) is identified by: First printing is identified by the Random House number line 2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3 on the copyright page, recorded by Zempel & Verkler (First Editions: A Guide to Identification) and consistent with documented Random House house practice for 1970-2002: the 'First Edition' statement appears on the copyright page and is removed on later printings, and Random House number lines of this era never contain a 1, with the lowest number present indicating the printing. US only.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First printing is identified by the Random House number line 2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3 on the copyright page, recorded by Zempel & Verkler (First Editions: A Guide to Identification) and consistent with documented Random House house practice for 1970-2002: the 'First Edition' statement appears on the copyright page and is removed on later printings, and Random House number lines of this era never contain a 1, with the lowest number present indicating the printing
- Binding: quarter red cloth over orange paper boards, the front board lettered in blind, the spine lettered in silver, with tan endpapers and pastedowns
- Collates [9], viii, [2], 3-48, [4] pp
- The dust jacket was designed by Janet Halverson and should be unclipped with the price present at the front flap
- Publisher imprint reads Random House, New York
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Maya Angelou |
| Publisher | Random House, New York |
| Year | 1971 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Poetry |
| Key point | First printing is identified by the Random House number line 2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3 on the copyright page, recorded by Zempel & Verkler (First… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First printing is identified by the Random House number line 2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3 on the copyright page, recorded by Zempel & Verkler (First Editions: A Guide to Identification) and consistent with documented Random House house practice for 1970-2002: the 'First Edition' statement appears on the copyright page and is removed on later printings, and Random House number lines of this era never contain a 1, with the lowest number present indicating the printing. Binding: quarter red cloth over orange paper boards, the front board lettered in blind, the spine lettered in silver, with tan endpapers and pastedowns. Collates [9], viii, [2], 3-48, [4] pp. The dust jacket was designed by Janet Halverson and should be unclipped with the price present at the front flap.

## Is this the true first?
US only. New York: Random House, 1971 — Angelou's first poetry collection and a Pulitzer Prize nominee. No British first edition of the collection is recorded. First thus traps: the Bantam mass-market paperback, and The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou (Random House, 1994), which resets the text.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition documented for this title. The realistic confusion is later Random House printings still dated 1971 — dealers catalogue copies as 'first edition, third printing' and similar — so read the number line rather than the title-page date. A copy lacking the 'First Edition' statement is a later printing.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie* by Maya Angelou a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/just-give-me-a-cool-drink-of-water-fore-i-diiie
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.