# Is "The Good Lord Bird" by James McBride a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Good Lord Bird by James McBride (Riverhead Books, 2013) is identified by: Riverhead Books hardcover with a number line ending in 1 and the Riverhead/Penguin imprint statement on the copyright page. The US Riverhead hardcover of 2013 is the true first edition.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Riverhead Books hardcover with a number line ending in 1 and the Riverhead/Penguin imprint statement on the copyright page
- First-state dust jacket has no National Book Award reference and carries the original printed price on the front flap
- Publisher imprint reads Riverhead Books
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | James McBride |
| Publisher | Riverhead Books |
| Year | 2013 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Riverhead Books hardcover with a number line ending in 1 and the Riverhead/Penguin imprint statement on the copyright page |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Riverhead Books hardcover with a number line ending in 1 and the Riverhead/Penguin imprint statement on the copyright page. First-state dust jacket has no National Book Award reference and carries the original printed price on the front flap.

## Is this the true first?
The US Riverhead hardcover of 2013 is the true first edition. It won the 2013 National Book Award for Fiction. The true first predates the award; later jacket states add the award medallion.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Confirm the number line down to 1 and the absence of any award seal on the jacket for the true first printing.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Good Lord Bird* by James McBride a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-good-lord-bird
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.