# Is "One Man's Initiation: 1917" by John Dos Passos a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of One Man's Initiation: 1917 by John Dos Passos (George Allen & Unwin, London, 1920) is identified by: Dos Passos's first book. UK precedes US.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Dos Passos's first book
- The true first is the London Allen & Unwin edition, published October 1920, in blue cloth
- The text was bowdlerized, with passages cut or blanked for the censors (later restored in the 1969 Cornell University Press edition set from uncorrected proofs)
- Publisher imprint reads George Allen & Unwin, London
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | John Dos Passos |
| Publisher | George Allen & Unwin, London |
| Year | 1920 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Dos Passos's first book |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Dos Passos's first book. The true first is the London Allen & Unwin edition, published October 1920, in blue cloth. The text was bowdlerized, with passages cut or blanked for the censors (later restored in the 1969 Cornell University Press edition set from uncorrected proofs).

## Is this the true first?
UK precedes US. The first American edition was published by George H. Doran Company, New York, in June 1922 (a separate first American printing, not the true first). The 1945 Philosophical Library edition retitled First Encounter is a later reprint with a new author introduction.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book club. Do not mistake the 1922 Doran American edition or the 1945 First Encounter reprint for the true first; only the 1920 London Allen & Unwin edition is the first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *One Man's Initiation: 1917* by John Dos Passos a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/one-mans-initiation-1917
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.