# Is "The Ballad of the Sad Café (adaptation of Carson McCullers)" by Edward Albee a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Ballad of the Sad Café (adaptation of Carson McCullers) by Edward Albee (Houghton Mifflin / Atheneum, 1963) is identified by: First edition of Albee's stage adaptation of the McCullers novella, in cloth with dust jacket. There is a single 1963 first edition bearing the joint Houghton Mifflin / Atheneum imprint; there is no separate competing edition and thus no imprint precedence to resolve.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition of Albee's stage adaptation of the McCullers novella, in cloth with dust jacket
- The title page carries a joint imprint reading 'Boston: Houghton Mifflin
- New York: Atheneum.'
- Publisher imprint reads Houghton Mifflin / Atheneum
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Edward Albee |
| Publisher | Houghton Mifflin / Atheneum |
| Year | 1963 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition of Albee's stage adaptation of the McCullers novella, in cloth with dust… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
1963. First edition of Albee's stage adaptation of the McCullers novella, in cloth with dust jacket. The title page carries a joint imprint reading 'Boston: Houghton Mifflin; New York: Atheneum.'

## Is this the true first?
There is a single 1963 first edition bearing the joint Houghton Mifflin / Atheneum imprint; there is no separate competing edition and thus no imprint precedence to resolve.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No early book club.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Ballad of the Sad Café (adaptation of Carson McCullers)* by Edward Albee a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-ballad-of-the-sad-caf-adaptation-of-carson-mccullers
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-03.