# Is "The Autumn of the Patriarch" by Gabriel García Márquez (trans. Gregory Rabassa) a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Autumn of the Patriarch by Gabriel García Márquez (trans. Gregory Rabassa) (Harper & Row, New York, 1976) is identified by: First English-language edition: Harper & Row (New York), 1976, translated by Gregory Rabassa, 269 pp. The world first is the Spanish 'El otoño del patriarca' (1975).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First English-language edition: Harper & Row (New York), 1976, translated by Gregory Rabassa, 269 pp
- Bound in publisher's blue cloth with gilt lettering to the spine, a light blue topstain, and a deckle fore-edge
- The dust jacket art is by Guy Fleming, and a first-issue jacket retains the original printed price on the front flap
- Uncorrected proof copies are known bearing an earlier stated publication date and a different price on their printed wrappers
- Publisher imprint reads Harper & Row, New York
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Gabriel García Márquez (trans. Gregory Rabassa) |
| Publisher | Harper & Row, New York |
| Year | 1976 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First English-language edition: Harper & Row (New York), 1976, translated by Gregory Rabassa, 269 pp |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First English-language edition: Harper & Row (New York), 1976, translated by Gregory Rabassa, 269 pp. Bound in publisher's blue cloth with gilt lettering to the spine, a light blue topstain, and a deckle fore-edge. The dust jacket art is by Guy Fleming, and a first-issue jacket retains the original printed price on the front flap. Uncorrected proof copies are known bearing an earlier stated publication date and a different price on their printed wrappers.

## Is this the true first?
The world first is the Spanish 'El otoño del patriarca' (1975). The 1976 Harper & Row edition is the first edition in English and precedes the Jonathan Cape London edition of 1977, which has a different collation (229 pp).

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later Avon and other paperbacks are reprints. The 1977 Cape London edition is a separate first British edition, not a reprint of the US; a later printing of the US edition retains the same jacket price but advances the printing statement on the copyright page.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Autumn of the Patriarch* by Gabriel García Márquez (trans. Gregory Rabassa) a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-autumn-of-the-patriarch
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.