# Is "Knight's Gambit" by William Faulkner a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Knight's Gambit by William Faulkner (Random House, 1949) is identified by: Random House, New York, 1949. Census claim CONFIRMED: the US Random House, New York, 1949 is the true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Random House, New York, 1949
- 8vo, [6], 246 pp; publisher's red cloth, spine and front board stamped in gilt over black; in the pictorial dust jacket designed by E. McKnight Kauffer, with the price present at the front flap (a priced jacket is the wanted state)
- The first printing carries NO edition or printing statement on the copyright page — dealers phrase it as "no statement of edition or printing on copyright page (correct identification for this issue)" and "first printing does not appear on verso of the title page"; later printings are stated there
- Note that this differs from the earlier Random House Faulkners of the 1930s–the printed price, which do state "FIRST PRINTING" — do not apply that test here
- UNSETTLED POINT: dealers disagree on the top-edge stain
- The majority describe blue or gray-blue; one reference describes black and another green
- Publisher imprint reads Random House

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | William Faulkner |
| Publisher | Random House |
| Year | 1949 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Random House, New York, 1949 |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Random House, New York, 1949. 8vo, [6], 246 pp; publisher's red cloth, spine and front board stamped in gilt over black; in the pictorial dust jacket designed by E. McKnight Kauffer, with the price present at the front flap (a priced jacket is the wanted state). The first printing carries NO edition or printing statement on the copyright page — dealers phrase it as "no statement of edition or printing on copyright page (correct identification for this issue)" and "first printing does not appear on verso of the title page"; later printings are stated there. Note that this differs from the earlier Random House Faulkners of the 1930s–the printed price, which do state "FIRST PRINTING" — do not apply that test here. UNSETTLED POINT: dealers disagree on the top-edge stain. The majority describe blue or gray-blue; one reference describes black and another green. Treat the top-edge stain as an unreliable test for this title rather than a point of issue until it is resolved against a bibliography.

## Is this the true first?
Census claim CONFIRMED: the US Random House, New York, 1949 is the true first. Chatto & Windus, London, 1951 is the first English edition and is separately collected: publisher's blue cloth, gilt lettering to the spine, blue top edge, in a dust jacket by Lynton Lamb. One UK dealer records that the Chatto edition went to a second impression in May 1951 with the first impression appearing the previous month, so on a UK copy the impression statement should be checked — the 1951 date alone does not guarantee a first impression. Six Gavin Stevens stories; five had appeared in periodicals and the title story appears here for the first time.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue is documented in the sources consulted for this title; the specific club tells sometimes asserted for mid-century Faulkner (blind stamp to the rear board, unpriced jacket, reduced trim) are not attested for Knight's Gambit in any source checked and should not be published as points. The documented reprint tell is the copyright page: later printings are stated, the first is not.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Knight's Gambit* by William Faulkner a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/knights-gambit
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.