# Is "The Man Who Killed the Deer signed first" by Frank Waters a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Man Who Killed the Deer signed first by Frank Waters (Farrar & Rinehart, 1942) is identified by: The true first edition is Farrar & Rinehart, New York, 1942. Farrar & Rinehart, New York, 1942 is the true first edition.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The true first edition is Farrar & Rinehart, New York, 1942
- The first printing carries the Rinehart colophon on the copyright page with no statement of any later printing, and because there is no number line that copyright-page wording is the sole textual identifier
- The first-issue dust jacket carries its printed price on the front flap
- Publisher imprint reads Farrar & Rinehart
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Frank Waters |
| Publisher | Farrar & Rinehart |
| Year | 1942 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The true first edition is Farrar & Rinehart, New York, 1942 |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
The true first edition is Farrar & Rinehart, New York, 1942. The first printing carries the Rinehart colophon on the copyright page with no statement of any later printing, and because there is no number line that copyright-page wording is the sole textual identifier. The first-issue dust jacket carries its printed price on the front flap.

## Is this the true first?
Farrar & Rinehart, New York, 1942 is the true first edition.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Book-club editions and later printings (including the reset editions of 1965 and 1971, some with a Lawrence Clark Powell introduction and Don Perceval illustrations not present in the 1942 first) reprint the text but are not the first edition. Because there is no number line, the copyright-page wording is the sole textual identifier — read it carefully, confirming the Rinehart colophon and the absence of any later-printing statement.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Man Who Killed the Deer signed first* by Frank Waters a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-man-who-killed-the-deer-signed-first
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.