# Is "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (in: Indian Country)" by Dorothy M. Johnson a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (in: Indian Country) by Dorothy M. Johnson (Ballantine Books, 1953) is identified by: The story's first book appearance is in the Ballantine collection 'Indian Country' (1953), issued in Ballantine's dual format of the period: a cloth hardcover (dull yellow textured paper-covered boards, in a yellow and red dust jacket, 197 pp.) and a paperback original. The first book appearance is in 'Indian Country' (Ballantine, 1953); Johnson did not publish the story as a standalone.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The story's first book appearance is in the Ballantine collection 'Indian Country'
- , issued in Ballantine's dual format of the period: a cloth hardcover (dull yellow textured paper-covered boards, in a yellow and red dust jacket, 197 pp.) and a paperback original
- The hardcover issue is the elusive one
- The collection gathers eleven of Johnson's frontier stories, including this title and 'A Man Called Horse.'
- Publisher imprint reads Ballantine Books
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Dorothy M. Johnson |
| Publisher | Ballantine Books |
| Year | 1953 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The story's first book appearance is in the Ballantine collection 'Indian Country' |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
The story's first book appearance is in the Ballantine collection 'Indian Country' (1953), issued in Ballantine's dual format of the period: a cloth hardcover (dull yellow textured paper-covered boards, in a yellow and red dust jacket, 197 pp.) and a paperback original. The hardcover issue is the elusive one. The collection gathers eleven of Johnson's frontier stories, including this title and 'A Man Called Horse.'

## Is this the true first?
The first book appearance is in 'Indian Country' (Ballantine, 1953); Johnson did not publish the story as a standalone. The cloth and wrapper issues are companion Ballantine firsts of that year; later anthology gatherings are first-thus reprints.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later anthologies and the Gregg Press and University of Nebraska reprints are first-thus, not the 1953 first book appearance.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (in: Indian Country)* by Dorothy M. Johnson a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-man-who-shot-liberty-valance-in-indian-country
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.