# Is "The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers (Houghton Mifflin, 1940) is identified by: Tan buckram stamped in dark red; '1940' on both title and copyright pages with no later-printing statement; 356 pages; first-issue dust jacket priced 2.50 with the 'Summer's Lease' blurb on the rear flap. US Houghton Mifflin is the true first; the UK Cresset Press edition (1943) follows.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Tan buckram stamped in dark red; '1940' on both title and copyright pages with no later-printing statement
- 356 pages; first-issue dust jacket priced 2.50 with the 'Summer's Lease' blurb on the rear flap
- McCullers's first novel
- Publisher imprint reads Houghton Mifflin
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Carson McCullers |
| Publisher | Houghton Mifflin |
| Year | 1940 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Tan buckram stamped in dark red; '1940' on both title and copyright pages with no later-printing statement |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
Tan buckram stamped in dark red; '1940' on both title and copyright pages with no later-printing statement; 356 pages; first-issue dust jacket priced 2.50 with the 'Summer's Lease' blurb on the rear flap. McCullers's first novel.

## Is this the true first?
US Houghton Mifflin is the true first; the UK Cresset Press edition (1943) follows.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Decisive jacket point: later-state jackets replace the 'Summer's Lease' blurb with an advertisement for 'Reflections in a Golden Eye' (1941) on the rear panel, so presence of that ad means the jacket post-dates the true first issue. The book-club edition has no 2.50 price and a blind-stamped board.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter* by Carson McCullers a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-heart-is-a-lonely-hunter
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.