# Is "O Pioneers!" by Willa Cather a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of O Pioneers! by Willa Cather (Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1913) is identified by: First printing carries the 1913 date on the title page and copyright page (later printings drop the 1913 date from the title page). True US first; precedes the UK Heinemann edition of 1913.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First printing carries the 1913 date on the title page and copyright page (later printings drop the 1913 date from the title page)
- Bound in light yellow-brown vertically ribbed cloth stamped in gilt; a recognized binding point is the period after 'CO' on the spine touching the O. Riverside Press (Houghton Mifflin) production
- Crane bibliography A6a
- Publisher imprint reads Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Willa Cather |
| Publisher | Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston |
| Year | 1913 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First printing carries the 1913 date on the title page and copyright page (later printings drop the 1913 date from the title page) |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First printing carries the 1913 date on the title page and copyright page (later printings drop the 1913 date from the title page). Bound in light yellow-brown vertically ribbed cloth stamped in gilt; a recognized binding point is the period after 'CO' on the spine touching the O. Riverside Press (Houghton Mifflin) production. Crane bibliography A6a.

## Is this the true first?
True US first; precedes the UK Heinemann edition of 1913. (Cather's first novel was 'Alexander's Bridge', 1912.)

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book club issue. Later printings drop the 1913 date from the title page and add impression notices.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *O Pioneers!* by Willa Cather a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/o-pioneers
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.