# Is "The Floating Opera" by John Barth a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Floating Opera by John Barth (Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1956) is identified by: First printing in publisher's cloth with dust jacket; the printed jacket price on the first issue is 3.95 (the record's 3.75 was incorrect). True first is the 1956 Appleton-Century-Crofts edition, Barth's debut novel.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First printing in publisher's cloth with dust jacket; the printed jacket price on the first issue is 3.95 (the record's 3.75 was incorrect)
- This 1956 text is the altered version Barth made at the publisher's request, with the ending changed to a less nihilistic close
- Barth's preferred text was restored only in the 1967 Doubleday revised edition
- Publisher imprint reads Appleton-Century-Crofts
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | John Barth |
| Publisher | Appleton-Century-Crofts |
| Year | 1956 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First printing in publisher's cloth with dust jacket; the printed jacket price on the first issue is 3.95 (the record's 3.75 was incorrect) |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First printing in publisher's cloth with dust jacket; the printed jacket price on the first issue is 3.95 (the record's 3.75 was incorrect). This 1956 text is the altered version Barth made at the publisher's request, with the ending changed to a less nihilistic close; Barth's preferred text was restored only in the 1967 Doubleday revised edition.

## Is this the true first?
True first is the 1956 Appleton-Century-Crofts edition, Barth's debut novel. The 1967 Doubleday edition is a revised, restored first thus and is far more common; the 1956 first is genuinely scarce.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition of the 1956 issue is documented. Later Doubleday and Bantam appearances are reprints or the revised text.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Floating Opera* by John Barth a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-floating-opera
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.