# Is "Mexican Gothic" by Silvia Moreno-Garcia a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Del Rey, New York, 2020) is identified by: The first printing is the Del Rey (Random House / Penguin Random House, New York) hardcover, published 30 June 2020, ISBN 0525620788 / 9780525620785, 301–320 pp. The census claim is CONFIRMED on the essentials.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The first printing is the Del Rey (Random House / Penguin Random House, New York) hardcover, published 30 June 2020, ISBN 0525620788 / 9780525620785, 301–320 pp. depending on how the record counts
- Identification is by the copyright page: a stated first edition together with a complete number line running to 1 — dealers catalogue firsts as "First Edition/First Printing with the complete number line" and "First American edition, first printing." The jacket should be a priced jacket with the price present at the flap and unclipped
- The specific digits of the Del Rey number line are not documented in the sources consulted and are not asserted here; check that the line runs to 1
- No first-state text error or binding variant is documented for the Del Rey issue
- Publisher imprint reads Del Rey, New York
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Silvia Moreno-Garcia |
| Publisher | Del Rey, New York |
| Year | 2020 |
| True first | Canadian edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The first printing is the Del Rey (Random House / Penguin Random House, New York) hardcover, published 30 June 2020, ISBN 0525620788 /… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
The first printing is the Del Rey (Random House / Penguin Random House, New York) hardcover, published 30 June 2020, ISBN 0525620788 / 9780525620785, 301–320 pp. depending on how the record counts. Identification is by the copyright page: a stated first edition together with a complete number line running to 1 — dealers catalogue firsts as "First Edition/First Printing with the complete number line" and "First American edition, first printing." The jacket should be a priced jacket with the price present at the flap and unclipped. The specific digits of the Del Rey number line are not documented in the sources consulted and are not asserted here; check that the line runs to 1. No first-state text error or binding variant is documented for the Del Rey issue.

## Is this the true first?
The census claim is CONFIRMED on the essentials. The book was written in English by a Mexican-Canadian author, so there is no original-language precedence question. Penguin Random House's own imprint record dates the Del Rey (US/Canada) hardcover to 30 June 2020, and the UK issue from Jo Fletcher Books (London — an imprint of Quercus, Hachette UK), ISBN 1529402654 / 9781529402650, is dated to the same day, 30 June 2020, making the two effectively simultaneous. Both are collected; the Del Rey is the first American edition and the Jo Fletcher the first UK. Caveat: the same-day UK date rests on a single source and is not independently corroborated here, so treat strict simultaneity as probable rather than settled.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue is documented. Reprint tell is a number line no longer running to 1. Several "first thus" traps exist and are commonly mis-offered as firsts: the Del Rey trade paperback (15 June 2021, 334 pp., cover art by Tim Green); the Subterranean Press signed/limited issue (2022, one of 500, wraparound cover art and illustrated endpapers); the Goldsboro Books signed and numbered issue of the Jo Fletcher UK edition (one of 250, with red sprayed edges — a genuine UK variant but a special issue, not the trade first); and the Jo Fletcher EXPORT issue (ISBN 9781529402674). The Del Rey Advance Reader's Edition / uncorrected proof in illustrated wraps precedes publication but is a proof, not the first edition.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Mexican Gothic* by Silvia Moreno-Garcia a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/mexican-gothic
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.