# Is "The Death of Artemio Cruz" by Carlos Fuentes (trans. Sam Hileman) a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Death of Artemio Cruz by Carlos Fuentes (trans. Sam Hileman) (Farrar, Straus & Company, New York, 1964) is identified by: First English edition, translated by Sam Hileman: Farrar, Straus & Company, New York, 1964, octavo, 306 pages. The true first edition is the Spanish 'La muerte de Artemio Cruz' (Fondo de Cultura Económica, Mexico City, 1962).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First English edition, translated by Sam Hileman: Farrar, Straus & Company, New York, 1964, octavo, 306 pages
- Bound in black paper-covered boards backed in black cloth, the spine lettered in gilt, with red endpapers and a red topstain
- First-issue dust jacket has a black and yellow spine with a monochrome flower design and orange, red and white lettering; the printed price should be present on the unclipped flap
- Translation of 'La muerte de Artemio Cruz.'
- Publisher imprint reads Farrar, Straus & Company, New York
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Carlos Fuentes (trans. Sam Hileman) |
| Publisher | Farrar, Straus & Company, New York |
| Year | 1964 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First English edition, translated by Sam Hileman: Farrar, Straus & Company, New York, 1964, octavo, 306 pages |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First English edition, translated by Sam Hileman: Farrar, Straus & Company, New York, 1964, octavo, 306 pages. Bound in black paper-covered boards backed in black cloth, the spine lettered in gilt, with red endpapers and a red topstain. First-issue dust jacket has a black and yellow spine with a monochrome flower design and orange, red and white lettering; the printed price should be present on the unclipped flap. Translation of 'La muerte de Artemio Cruz.'

## Is this the true first?
The true first edition is the Spanish 'La muerte de Artemio Cruz' (Fondo de Cultura Económica, Mexico City, 1962). The 1964 Farrar, Straus is the first English-language edition. A later Alfred MacAdam translation (1991) is a distinct new translation, not a reprint of the Hileman text.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later Noonday/Farrar, Straus paperbacks reprint the Hileman translation and are not the 1964 cloth first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Death of Artemio Cruz* by Carlos Fuentes (trans. Sam Hileman) a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-death-of-artemio-cruz
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.