# Is "The Cannibal" by John Hawkes a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Cannibal by John Hawkes (New Directions, 1949) is identified by: New Directions, New York, 1949. The US New Directions edition is the true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- New Directions, New York, 1949
- Number 13 in the 'Direction' series; small format (16mo), 223 pages; gray cloth-textured paper-covered boards; introduction by Albert J. Guerard; the first printing carries no statement of a later printing
- Issued in dust jacket
- Hawkes's first novel
- Publisher imprint reads New Directions
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | John Hawkes |
| Publisher | New Directions |
| Year | 1949 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | New Directions, New York, 1949 |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
New Directions, New York, 1949. Number 13 in the 'Direction' series; small format (16mo), 223 pages; gray cloth-textured paper-covered boards; introduction by Albert J. Guerard; the first printing carries no statement of a later printing. Issued in dust jacket. Hawkes's first novel.

## Is this the true first?
The US New Directions edition is the true first. There is no preceding UK edition. The substantially revised 1962 New Directions edition is a 'first thus,' not the first edition.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition of consequence. The unaltered 1949 first-printing copyright page (with the Guerard introduction, not the later revised text) and the presence of the dust jacket are the key tells.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Cannibal* by John Hawkes a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-cannibal
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.