# Is "Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI" by David Grann a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann (Doubleday, 2017) is identified by: The first printing states "FIRST EDITION" on the copyright page together with a complete number line running down to 1 -- the standard Doubleday / Penguin Random House odd-even line "1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2". US Doubleday, New York, published 18 April 2017, is the true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The first printing states "FIRST EDITION" on the copyright page together with a complete number line running down to 1 -- the standard Doubleday / Penguin Random House odd-even line "1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2"
- Later printings drop the low numbers and remove the statement, so a line beginning "3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4" is a second printing
- Collates x + 338 pages, octavo, with photographic plates and endpaper maps
- ISBN 978-0-385-53424-6
- Bound in tan boards with a maroon spine, the spine stamped in gilt
- The first-state jacket has no "New York Times Bestseller" mast or banner across the front panel and carries review blurbs on the rear panel (among them Louise Erdrich and S. C. Gwynne); the price is present at the front flap
- Publisher imprint reads Doubleday

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | David Grann |
| Publisher | Doubleday |
| Year | 2017 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The first printing states "FIRST EDITION" on the copyright page together with a complete number line running down to 1 -- the standard… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
The first printing states "FIRST EDITION" on the copyright page together with a complete number line running down to 1 -- the standard Doubleday / Penguin Random House odd-even line "1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2". Later printings drop the low numbers and remove the statement, so a line beginning "3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4" is a second printing. Collates x + 338 pages, octavo, with photographic plates and endpaper maps; ISBN 978-0-385-53424-6. Bound in tan boards with a maroon spine, the spine stamped in gilt. The first-state jacket has no "New York Times Bestseller" mast or banner across the front panel and carries review blurbs on the rear panel (among them Louise Erdrich and S. C. Gwynne); the price is present at the front flap. A jacket carrying the bestseller banner is a later state.

## Is this the true first?
US Doubleday, New York, published 18 April 2017, is the true first. The UK edition -- Simon & Schuster UK, London, published 20 April 2017 -- follows by two days: it is a near-simultaneous separate edition, not a competing true first, and the American issue holds precedence by date. Name both: Doubleday (US, 18 April 2017) is the first; Simon & Schuster UK (20 April 2017) is the first UK. The census note's framing of the UK issue in terms of demand is replaced here with the documented precedence by publication date. "First thus" traps: the 2023 movie tie-in reissues around the Scorsese film, and the later trade paperbacks.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club printing is documented in the sources consulted. The realistic traps on a modern title like this are not club copies but later printings and remainders: confirm the "FIRST EDITION" statement, confirm the number line still carries the 1, and confirm the jacket front panel has no bestseller banner. A later-state jacket is often married to a first-printing book, and vice versa, so the book and the jacket must be checked separately.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI* by David Grann a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/killers-of-the-flower-moon-the-osage-murders-and-the-birth-o
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.