# Is "Ride the Pink Horse" by Dorothy B. Hughes a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Ride the Pink Horse by Dorothy B. Hughes (Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1946) is identified by: Duell, Sloan and Pearce first printings are identified on the copyright page either by a stated "First Edition" or by the Roman numeral "I"; a second printing carries the Roman numeral "II," a third "III," and so on. US Duell, Sloan and Pearce (New York) 1946 is the true first edition; the census claim is confirmed.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Duell, Sloan and Pearce first printings are identified on the copyright page either by a stated "First Edition" or by the Roman numeral "I"; a second printing carries the Roman numeral "II," a third "III," and so on
- That Roman-numeral sequence is the decisive point for this title and is documented independently in two standard publisher-identification guides — check the copyright page for "I" before anything else
- The book is an octavo, collating approximately [6] + 248 pp., bound in gray cloth lettered in red
- Issued in a pictorial dust jacket whose spine lettering is printed in pink and yellow; those two colors are fugitive and are very commonly faded or wholly lost on the spine panel, so a bright spine is unusual rather than suspect
- A priced jacket with the price present at the front flap is the unclipped state; price-clipped jackets are frequently encountered
- Reference: Hubin, p
- Publisher imprint reads Duell, Sloan and Pearce

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Dorothy B. Hughes |
| Publisher | Duell, Sloan and Pearce |
| Year | 1946 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Duell, Sloan and Pearce first printings are identified on the copyright page either by a stated "First Edition" or by the Roman numeral… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Duell, Sloan and Pearce first printings are identified on the copyright page either by a stated "First Edition" or by the Roman numeral "I"; a second printing carries the Roman numeral "II," a third "III," and so on. That Roman-numeral sequence is the decisive point for this title and is documented independently in two standard publisher-identification guides — check the copyright page for "I" before anything else. The book is an octavo, collating approximately [6] + 248 pp., bound in gray cloth lettered in red. Issued in a pictorial dust jacket whose spine lettering is printed in pink and yellow; those two colors are fugitive and are very commonly faded or wholly lost on the spine panel, so a bright spine is unusual rather than suspect. A priced jacket with the price present at the front flap is the unclipped state; price-clipped jackets are frequently encountered. Reference: Hubin, p. 421.

## Is this the true first?
US Duell, Sloan and Pearce (New York) 1946 is the true first edition; the census claim is confirmed. No British hardcover preceding the 1946 US printing was located. Some dealers catalogue the 1946 Duell as the "First American Edition" — that is house cataloguing style and does not imply an earlier English edition exists. The Bantam paperback and all later reissues, including the modern American Mystery Classics reprint, are "first thus" traps; likewise the 1947 Robert Montgomery film generated tie-in printings that are not firsts. The novel's Santa Fe Fiesta setting makes this a natural New Mexico collecting title, which is a provenance interest, not a bibliographic point.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition tells specific to this title are documented in the sources consulted. The Duell, Sloan and Pearce Roman-numeral scheme is itself the working reprint tell: any numeral above "I" on the copyright page, or a copyright page bearing neither "First Edition" nor "I," rules out the first printing. Absent an attested club point (blind-stamp, absent price, or club colophon) for this title, do not assert club status on binding evidence alone.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Ride the Pink Horse* by Dorothy B. Hughes a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/ride-the-pink-horse
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.