# Is "The Denial of Death" by Ernest Becker a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker (The Free Press, 1973) is identified by: First printing, xiv plus 314 pages, bound in navy cloth with white and gilt spine lettering. US Free Press (New York) true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First printing, xiv plus 314 pages, bound in navy cloth with white and gilt spine lettering
- The copyright page carries the imprint of The Free Press, a division of Macmillan Publishing Co., and lacks any later-printing statement
- Issued in the first-state light-blue printed dust jacket with the printed price present at the flap
- Published shortly before Becker's death
- Publisher imprint reads The Free Press
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Ernest Becker |
| Publisher | The Free Press |
| Year | 1973 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First printing, xiv plus 314 pages, bound in navy cloth with white and gilt spine lettering |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First printing, xiv plus 314 pages, bound in navy cloth with white and gilt spine lettering. The copyright page carries the imprint of The Free Press, a division of Macmillan Publishing Co., and lacks any later-printing statement. Issued in the first-state light-blue printed dust jacket with the printed price present at the flap. Published shortly before Becker's death.

## Is this the true first?
US Free Press (New York) true first. Won the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction in 1974, posthumously.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later printings add a printing statement or advance the number line on the copyright page; the 1973 first is scarce in first state, especially in the jacket.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Denial of Death* by Ernest Becker a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-denial-of-death
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.