# Is "Ripley's Game" by Patricia Highsmith a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Ripley's Game by Patricia Highsmith (William Heinemann, 1974) is identified by: Heinemann (London, 1974): first impression carries a "First published 1974" statement on the copyright page with no later impression line added beneath it; later Heinemann impressions add that impression statement. CENSUS CLAIM CORRECTED.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Heinemann (London, 1974): first impression carries a "First published 1974" statement on the copyright page with no later impression line added beneath it; later Heinemann impressions add that impression statement
- The photographic dust jacket is credited to Graham Miller, with the price present at the front flap
- Knopf (New York, 1974): the copyright page carries a "First American Edition" statement — Knopf's standard practice where a British edition preceded — with no additional printing statement; the volume has a deckled fore-edge and a red-stained top edge, in a jacket designed by Janet Halverson with the price present at the flap
- A quick text-state check distinguishes the two settings: the Knopf text is Americanised, reading "parlor game" within the opening sentences where Heinemann reads "parlour game."
- Publisher imprint reads William Heinemann
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Patricia Highsmith |
| Publisher | William Heinemann |
| Year | 1974 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Heinemann (London, 1974): first impression carries a "First published 1974" statement on the copyright page with no later impression line… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
Heinemann (London, 1974): first impression carries a "First published 1974" statement on the copyright page with no later impression line added beneath it; later Heinemann impressions add that impression statement. The photographic dust jacket is credited to Graham Miller, with the price present at the front flap. Knopf (New York, 1974): the copyright page carries a "First American Edition" statement — Knopf's standard practice where a British edition preceded — with no additional printing statement; the volume has a deckled fore-edge and a red-stained top edge, in a jacket designed by Janet Halverson with the price present at the flap. A quick text-state check distinguishes the two settings: the Knopf text is Americanised, reading "parlor game" within the opening sentences where Heinemann reads "parlour game."

## Is this the true first?
CENSUS CLAIM CORRECTED. The census recorded Knopf (New York) 1974 as the true first on an assumption of near-simultaneity with US priority; this is wrong. Heinemann published in London on 11 March 1974, some two months ahead of Knopf's May 1974 issue, and the Knopf copyright page's own "First American Edition" statement concedes the precedence. The Heinemann is therefore the true first edition; the Knopf 1974 is the first American edition and is collected in its own right, both for the Halverson jacket and as the first appearance of the Americanised text. Separately, the census is right that the inventory conflates this title with The Talented Mr. Ripley — that is a different and earlier novel with its own edition history and must not share a record or its points.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later Heinemann impressions are stated as such on the copyright page. The Knopf edition went through several printings, so a Knopf copy must be checked for the unqualified "First American Edition" statement rather than accepted on the 1974 title-page date alone. No separate book-club issue of either edition is documented in the sources consulted. The principal reprint trap is the Heinemann Uniform Edition of 1989, a later reissue in Heinemann's uniform Highsmith series — a "first thus" only, despite the matching imprint.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Ripley's Game* by Patricia Highsmith a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/ripleys-game
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.