# Is "Live or Die" by Anne Sexton a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Live or Die by Anne Sexton (Houghton Mifflin, 1966) is identified by: Houghton Mifflin first printing, identified by the 'First Printing' statement on the copyright page. US true first and Pulitzer winner; precedes the UK Oxford University Press edition that followed.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Houghton Mifflin first printing, identified by the 'First Printing' statement on the copyright page
- Won the 1967 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- Dust jacket priced on the flap; later states should be checked against the printing line
- Publisher imprint reads Houghton Mifflin
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Anne Sexton |
| Publisher | Houghton Mifflin |
| Year | 1966 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Poetry |
| Key point | Houghton Mifflin first printing, identified by the 'First Printing' statement on the copyright page |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Sexton's third book. Houghton Mifflin first printing, identified by the 'First Printing' statement on the copyright page. Won the 1967 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Dust jacket priced on the flap; later states should be checked against the printing line.

## Is this the true first?
US true first and Pulitzer winner; precedes the UK Oxford University Press edition that followed.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition. The trap is later Houghton Mifflin printings carrying a printing statement rather than the clean first-printing line.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Live or Die* by Anne Sexton a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/live-or-die
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.