# Is "No Hero" by John P. Marquand a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of No Hero by John P. Marquand (Little, Brown and Company, 1935) is identified by: True first is the US Little, Brown printing, 1935, identified by 'Published August, 1935' on the copyright page with no later-printing notice. US Little, Brown edition (1935), with 'Published August, 1935' on the copyright page, is the true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- True first is the US Little, Brown printing, 1935, identified by 'Published August, 1935' on the copyright page with no later-printing notice
- The publisher's binding is yellow cloth with black lettering to the spine and black lettering to the front cover, in a pictorial dust jacket that should carry its printed price on an unclipped copy
- This is the first Mr
- Moto novel and a Haycraft-Queen cornerstone; the story was first serialized in the Saturday Evening Post before book publication
- Publisher imprint reads Little, Brown and Company
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | John P. Marquand |
| Publisher | Little, Brown and Company |
| Year | 1935 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | True first is the US Little, Brown printing, 1935, identified by 'Published August, 1935' on the copyright page with no later-printing… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
True first is the US Little, Brown printing, 1935, identified by 'Published August, 1935' on the copyright page with no later-printing notice. The publisher's binding is yellow cloth with black lettering to the spine and black lettering to the front cover, in a pictorial dust jacket that should carry its printed price on an unclipped copy. This is the first Mr. Moto novel and a Haycraft-Queen cornerstone; the story was first serialized in the Saturday Evening Post before book publication.

## Is this the true first?
US Little, Brown edition (1935), with 'Published August, 1935' on the copyright page, is the true first. The British edition, from Robert Hale, appeared later under the title Mr. Moto Takes a Hand. A still later US paperback reissue from Berkley used the title Your Turn, Mr. Moto. Both retitlings postdate the Little, Brown first and are not the true first.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later printings and retitled reissues are reprints, not the first edition. Grosset and Dunlap reprints also exist and lack the 'Published August, 1935' statement.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *No Hero* by John P. Marquand a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/no-hero
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.