# Is "The Big Sky" by A.B. Guthrie Jr. a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Big Sky by A.B. Guthrie Jr. (William Sloane Associates, 1947) is identified by: First edition, first printing with 1947 copyright and no additional-printing statement; published by William Sloane Associates. US William Sloane Associates (1947) is the true first—the landmark mountain-man Western and first of Guthrie's series.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, first printing with 1947 copyright and no additional-printing statement; published by William Sloane Associates
- First-issue dust jacket with front-flap price and no reference to the 1949 sequel 'The Way West' or to the Pulitzer (Guthrie won for The Way West, not this title)
- Publisher imprint reads William Sloane Associates
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | A.B. Guthrie Jr. |
| Publisher | William Sloane Associates |
| Year | 1947 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, first printing with 1947 copyright and no additional-printing statement; published by William Sloane Associates |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
First edition, first printing with 1947 copyright and no additional-printing statement; published by William Sloane Associates. First-issue dust jacket with front-flap price and no reference to the 1949 sequel 'The Way West' or to the Pulitzer (Guthrie won for The Way West, not this title).

## Is this the true first?
US William Sloane Associates (1947) is the true first—the landmark mountain-man Western and first of Guthrie's series. Guthrie's bibliography makes the Sloane first the cornerstone; later Houghton Mifflin issues are reprints.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Book-club and later trade reprints lack the Sloane first-issue copyright state; any jacket touting later titles in the series or a different publisher (Houghton Mifflin) is not the 1947 first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Big Sky* by A.B. Guthrie Jr. a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-big-sky
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.