# Is "The Deer Park" by Norman Mailer a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Deer Park by Norman Mailer (G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1955) is identified by: Putnam's Sons placed no statement on first editions in this period; the first printing is identified by the ABSENCE of any printing statement, the copyright page reading only the 1955 copyright notice. US G.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- G. P. Putnam's Sons placed no statement on first editions in this period; the first printing is identified by the ABSENCE of any printing statement, the copyright page reading only the 1955 copyright notice
- Later printings add the words 'First printed' followed by the relevant dates beneath the copyright notice, so a printing history under the copyright is a disqualifier
- This absence-of-statement convention is confirmed by two independent publisher-identification guides
- Bound in black cloth/paper-covered boards, lettered on the spine and front panel in a light blue-green (dealers describe the lettering colour variously as green and light blue-green), in the publisher's priced jacket (price present at the front flap)
- CAUTION: a supposed 'first state, with fourth on page 20' point circulates online, but it traces to a single dealer's listing (which itself notes that 'most copies do not mention the first state point on page 20') and is not corroborated by any bibliography, including J. Michael Lennon's Norman Mailer: Works and Days
- It is not treated here as an established point and should not be relied on
- Publisher imprint reads G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Norman Mailer |
| Publisher | G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York |
| Year | 1955 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | G. P. Putnam's Sons placed no statement on first editions in this period; the first printing is identified by the ABSENCE of any printing… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
G. P. Putnam's Sons placed no statement on first editions in this period; the first printing is identified by the ABSENCE of any printing statement, the copyright page reading only the 1955 copyright notice. Later printings add the words 'First printed' followed by the relevant dates beneath the copyright notice, so a printing history under the copyright is a disqualifier. This absence-of-statement convention is confirmed by two independent publisher-identification guides. Bound in black cloth/paper-covered boards, lettered on the spine and front panel in a light blue-green (dealers describe the lettering colour variously as green and light blue-green), in the publisher's priced jacket (price present at the front flap). CAUTION: a supposed 'first state, with fourth on page 20' point circulates online, but it traces to a single dealer's listing (which itself notes that 'most copies do not mention the first state point on page 20') and is not corroborated by any bibliography, including J. Michael Lennon's Norman Mailer: Works and Days. It is not treated here as an established point and should not be relied on.

## Is this the true first?
US G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1955 is the true first and the edition collected — the census claim is correct. Rinehart & Company, Mailer's publisher, had already typeset the book but rejected it on grounds of obscenity and claimed the manuscript voided its contract; no Rinehart edition was published, so despite the proof-stage history there is no earlier issue to collect. The first British edition is Allan Wingate, London, 1957, bound in French blue cloth with the spine stamped in gilt; it follows the US issue and is collected only as the UK first.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue is specifically documented for this title in the sources consulted. The decisive reprint tell is the positive one: 'First printed' plus dates under the copyright notice marks a later Putnam printing, and dealers list fifth-printing copies still dated 1955 on the title page, so the date alone proves nothing. Distinct-work trap: The Deer Park: A Play (1967) is a separate title, not a reissue of the novel.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Deer Park* by Norman Mailer a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-deer-park
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.