# Is "Requiem for a Nun" by William Faulkner a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Requiem for a Nun by William Faulkner (Random House, 1951) is identified by: Random House, New York, 1951, issued in two forms. Census claim CONFIRMED: the US Random House, New York, 1951 is the true first (in both the 750-copy signed limited and the trade issue).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Random House, New York, 1951, issued in two forms
- SIGNED LIMITED ISSUE: 750 numbered copies signed by Faulkner on the limitation/justification page, bound in half black cloth over marbled paper boards, spine lettered and decorated in gilt, in the publisher's original acetate jacket; several references treat this signed limited as the true first
- TRADE ISSUE, first printing: the first edition is NOT stated, and no other printing statement should be present on the copyright page — identification is by absence
- FIRST-STATE POINTS: dark grey top-edge stain, and the misprint "Chocktaw" for "Choctaw" on page 21
- FIRST-STATE JACKET: the jacket designer E. McKnight Kauffer's name is misprinted as "M. McKnight Kauffer" on the front flap, with the price present at the flap; the jacket spine is prone to fading, so a bright spine on an otherwise worn jacket warrants a second look
- Publisher imprint reads Random House
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | William Faulkner |
| Publisher | Random House |
| Year | 1951 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Random House, New York, 1951, issued in two forms |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Random House, New York, 1951, issued in two forms. SIGNED LIMITED ISSUE: 750 numbered copies signed by Faulkner on the limitation/justification page, bound in half black cloth over marbled paper boards, spine lettered and decorated in gilt, in the publisher's original acetate jacket; several references treat this signed limited as the true first. TRADE ISSUE, first printing: the first edition is NOT stated, and no other printing statement should be present on the copyright page — identification is by absence. FIRST-STATE POINTS: dark grey top-edge stain, and the misprint "Chocktaw" for "Choctaw" on page 21. FIRST-STATE JACKET: the jacket designer E. McKnight Kauffer's name is misprinted as "M. McKnight Kauffer" on the front flap, with the price present at the flap; the jacket spine is prone to fading, so a bright spine on an otherwise worn jacket warrants a second look.

## Is this the true first?
Census claim CONFIRMED: the US Random House, New York, 1951 is the true first (in both the 750-copy signed limited and the trade issue). Chatto & Windus, London, 1953 is the first English edition and is separately collected: 12mo, (19), 251 pp, light blue cloth boards with gilt spine titling, in a yellow and black illustrated jacket designed by Paul Hogarth. The book is a sequel to Sanctuary, returning to Temple Drake, and is part novel, part play.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue is documented in the sources consulted. The documented reprint/later-state tells are: later printings are stated on the copyright page; "Chocktaw" is corrected to "Choctaw" at page 21; and later jackets carry the corrected E. McKnight Kauffer credit. A copy with a correct "Choctaw" or a correct Kauffer credit is not a first state, whatever the copyright page suggests.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Requiem for a Nun* by William Faulkner a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/requiem-for-a-nun
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.