# Is "The Land of Little Rain" by Mary Hunter Austin a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Land of Little Rain by Mary Hunter Austin (Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1903) is identified by: First edition 1903 Houghton, Mifflin, illustrated by E. US Houghton, Mifflin (1903) is the true first—the foundational California/Mojave desert nature classic.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition 1903 Houghton, Mifflin, illustrated by E. Boyd Smith, decorated cloth with the desert/landscape design; first-issue with the 1903 copyright and Riverside Press colophon, no later-printing line
- Top edge gilt in the first issue
- Publisher imprint reads Houghton, Mifflin and Company
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Mary Hunter Austin |
| Publisher | Houghton, Mifflin and Company |
| Year | 1903 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition 1903 Houghton, Mifflin, illustrated by E. Boyd Smith, decorated cloth with the desert/landscape design; first-issue with the… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First edition 1903 Houghton, Mifflin, illustrated by E. Boyd Smith, decorated cloth with the desert/landscape design; first-issue with the 1903 copyright and Riverside Press colophon, no later-printing line. Top edge gilt in the first issue.

## Is this the true first?
US Houghton, Mifflin (1903) is the true first—the foundational California/Mojave desert nature classic. The 1903 first issue with the E. Boyd Smith decorations and Riverside Press imprint is the cornerstone; later printings/reprints are 'first thus.'

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition; later Houghton printings and the many modern reprints (with new introductions) are obvious by added matter and printing statements. The 1903 decorated-cloth first issue is the target.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Land of Little Rain* by Mary Hunter Austin a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-land-of-little-rain
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.