# Is "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (DAW Books, 2007) is identified by: First hardcover (DAW Books, 'DAW Book Collectors No. The US DAW hardcover is the true first; the UK Gollancz is the UK first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First hardcover (DAW Books, 'DAW Book Collectors No
- 1396') states 'First Hardcover Printing, April 2007' on the copyright page, with a full number line beginning at 1
- Bound in black boards with a black cloth spine and copper spine lettering
- The jacket carries the printed US price and the Canadian price at the front flap
- Two Donato Giancola dust-jacket paintings were used on the first printing and have no priority — the stone 'green man/gargoyle' face-in-leaves jacket and the figure-of-Kvothe ('Fabio') jacket — so neither one alone identifies the first; the Kvothe/'Fabio' jacket is the scarcer of the two
- A third, redesigned cover was introduced only with the fifth printing
- Publisher imprint reads DAW Books

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Patrick Rothfuss |
| Publisher | DAW Books |
| Year | 2007 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First hardcover (DAW Books, 'DAW Book Collectors No |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First hardcover (DAW Books, 'DAW Book Collectors No. 1396') states 'First Hardcover Printing, April 2007' on the copyright page, with a full number line beginning at 1. Bound in black boards with a black cloth spine and copper spine lettering. The jacket carries the printed US price and the Canadian price at the front flap. Two Donato Giancola dust-jacket paintings were used on the first printing and have no priority — the stone 'green man/gargoyle' face-in-leaves jacket and the figure-of-Kvothe ('Fabio') jacket — so neither one alone identifies the first; the Kvothe/'Fabio' jacket is the scarcer of the two. A third, redesigned cover was introduced only with the fifth printing (2008), so its presence indicates a later printing.

## Is this the true first?
The US DAW hardcover is the true first; the UK Gollancz is the UK first. DAW is historically associated with unconventional number lines, so rely on the stated 'First Hardcover Printing, April 2007' wording together with the presence of the 1 in the number line. Both first-printing jacket variants (green-man/stone and Kvothe/'Fabio') are legitimate. Note that unsold first-printing stock is reported to have been re-jacketed with the later redesigned cover, so verify the copyright page rather than dating the book from the jacket.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No prominent book-club edition is the main trap; the traps are later-printing hardcovers (the printing statement changes and the number line loses the 1) and the Science Fiction Book Club (SFBC) issue, which is smaller, carries a blind gutter code, and has an unpriced jacket. The fifth-printing (2008) redesigned cover is not a first-printing jacket.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Name of the Wind* by Patrick Rothfuss a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-name-of-the-wind
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.