# Is "Numbers in the Dark and Other Stories" by Italo Calvino a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Numbers in the Dark and Other Stories by Italo Calvino (Pantheon, 1995) is identified by: First US edition, Pantheon Books, New York, 1995; translated from the Italian by Tim Parks. First English translation of the posthumous collection 'Prima che tu dica "Pronto"' (1993).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First US edition, Pantheon Books, New York, 1995; translated from the Italian by Tim Parks
- The collection gathers thirty-seven pieces arranged as Fables and Stories 1943-1958 and Tales and Dialogues 1968-1984, in cloth boards with a priced dust jacket
- Publisher imprint reads Pantheon
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Italo Calvino |
| Publisher | Pantheon |
| Year | 1995 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First US edition, Pantheon Books, New York, 1995; translated from the Italian by Tim Parks |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
First US edition, Pantheon Books, New York, 1995; translated from the Italian by Tim Parks. The collection gathers thirty-seven pieces arranged as Fables and Stories 1943-1958 and Tales and Dialogues 1968-1984, in cloth boards with a priced dust jacket.

## Is this the true first?
First English translation of the posthumous collection 'Prima che tu dica "Pronto"' (1993). The UK Jonathan Cape edition (ISBN 0224037323) and the US Pantheon edition (ISBN 0679442057) both appeared in 1995; US/UK precedence is not firmly established, and dealers list the two editions inconsistently.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No notable BCE.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Numbers in the Dark and Other Stories* by Italo Calvino a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/numbers-in-the-dark-and-other-stories
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-03.