# Is "The Green House" by Mario Vargas Llosa (trans. Gregory Rabassa) a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Green House by Mario Vargas Llosa (trans. Gregory Rabassa) (Harper & Row, New York, 1968) is identified by: First American edition, first printing. True first of the work is the Spanish 'La casa verde' (Editorial Seix Barral, Barcelona, Biblioteca Formentor, 1966, cover by Antoni Tapies, 430 pp).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First American edition, first printing
- Harper & Row, New York and Evanston, 1968, with 'First Edition' stated on the copyright page (some copies carry the publisher's code 'L-S' beneath it, denoting November 1968); green cloth in the original dust jacket designed by Guy Fleming, the jacket retaining its printed price on the front flap
- Translated by Gregory Rabassa
- Publisher imprint reads Harper & Row, New York
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Mario Vargas Llosa (trans. Gregory Rabassa) |
| Publisher | Harper & Row, New York |
| Year | 1968 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First American edition, first printing |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First American edition, first printing. Harper & Row, New York and Evanston, 1968, with 'First Edition' stated on the copyright page (some copies carry the publisher's code 'L-S' beneath it, denoting November 1968); green cloth in the original dust jacket designed by Guy Fleming, the jacket retaining its printed price on the front flap. Translated by Gregory Rabassa.

## Is this the true first?
True first of the work is the Spanish 'La casa verde' (Editorial Seix Barral, Barcelona, Biblioteca Formentor, 1966, cover by Antoni Tapies, 430 pp). The 1968 Harper & Row is the first English edition; it precedes the UK Cape edition (1969).

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Avon paperback and later reprints are not firsts; the UK Cape edition is a separate later first. Confirm the first printing by the 'First Edition' statement and the intact priced Guy Fleming jacket.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Green House* by Mario Vargas Llosa (trans. Gregory Rabassa) a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-green-house
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.