# Is "Letting Go" by Philip Roth a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Letting Go by Philip Roth (Random House, New York, 1962) is identified by: The first printing states 'First Printing' on the copyright page. US Random House, New York, 1962 is the true first and the edition collected — the census claim is correct.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The first printing states 'First Printing' on the copyright page
- The first-issue jacket carries the date code '6/62' on the front flap alongside the price (price present at the flap; unclipped flaps are wanted precisely because the code sits with it) — a clipped flap destroys the issue point as well as the price
- Bound in blue cloth-covered boards backed in black cloth, with gilt-stamped spine titling and lavender/purple decoration to the spine, the author's initials blind-stamped to the front board, and a faded pink topstain
- The rear jacket panel bears Nancy Sirkis's photographic portrait of Roth
- Publisher imprint reads Random House, New York
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Philip Roth |
| Publisher | Random House, New York |
| Year | 1962 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The first printing states 'First Printing' on the copyright page |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
The first printing states 'First Printing' on the copyright page. The first-issue jacket carries the date code '6/62' on the front flap alongside the price (price present at the flap; unclipped flaps are wanted precisely because the code sits with it) — a clipped flap destroys the issue point as well as the price. Bound in blue cloth-covered boards backed in black cloth, with gilt-stamped spine titling and lavender/purple decoration to the spine, the author's initials blind-stamped to the front board, and a faded pink topstain. The rear jacket panel bears Nancy Sirkis's photographic portrait of Roth.

## Is this the true first?
US Random House, New York, 1962 is the true first and the edition collected — the census claim is correct. Roth's first full-length novel, following the Goodbye, Columbus collection. The first British edition is André Deutsch, London, 1962; it follows the US issue and is collected only as the UK first, not as a co-first. Note the 'first thus' trap of the Library of America Novels and Stories 1959-1962 volume, which reprints Letting Go and is sometimes offered as a first.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue is specifically documented for this title in the sources consulted. The decisive tells remain positive ones: absence of 'First Printing' on the copyright page marks a later printing, and dealers list 'First Edition, Fourth Printing' copies of this title, so the copyright-page statement must be read rather than inferred from the 1962 date.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Letting Go* by Philip Roth a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/letting-go
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.