# Is "The Power of the Dog" by Thomas Savage a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Power of the Dog by Thomas Savage (Little, Brown, 1967) is identified by: "First Edition" is stated on the copyright page, and that stated line is the point — corroborated independently by Bauman Rare Books ("'First Edition' stated on copyright page"), BOOKFELLOWS (ABAA) ("First edition (stated)") and Rare Antiquarian Books ("First edition, as stated on copyright page"). Little, Brown (Boston, with Toronto on the imprint) 1967 is the true first, and the census is confirmed.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- "First Edition" is stated on the copyright page, and that stated line is the point — corroborated independently by Bauman Rare Books ("'First Edition' stated on copyright page"), BOOKFELLOWS (ABAA) ("First edition (stated)") and Rare Antiquarian Books ("First edition, as stated on copyright page")
- Octavo in original orange boards with the spine lettered in black; sources disagree on the covering material — Bauman describes "original orange paper boards" while other dealers describe orange cloth over boards — so treat the covering as undetermined and rely on the copyright-page statement rather than the binding
- The jacket carries a cover illustration by Milton Glaser and is priced at the front flap, with the price present at the flap on unclipped copies
- The conventions given for Little, Brown in the standard publisher guides (ILAB, Quill & Brush) cover only the pre-1930s and 1930s practice and do not govern a 1967 book
- Publisher imprint reads Little, Brown
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Thomas Savage |
| Publisher | Little, Brown |
| Year | 1967 |
| True first | British edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | "First Edition" is stated on the copyright page, and that stated line is the point — corroborated independently by Bauman Rare Books… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
"First Edition" is stated on the copyright page, and that stated line is the point — corroborated independently by Bauman Rare Books ("'First Edition' stated on copyright page"), BOOKFELLOWS (ABAA) ("First edition (stated)") and Rare Antiquarian Books ("First edition, as stated on copyright page"). Octavo in original orange boards with the spine lettered in black; sources disagree on the covering material — Bauman describes "original orange paper boards" while other dealers describe orange cloth over boards — so treat the covering as undetermined and rely on the copyright-page statement rather than the binding. The jacket carries a cover illustration by Milton Glaser and is priced at the front flap, with the price present at the flap on unclipped copies. The conventions given for Little, Brown in the standard publisher guides (ILAB, Quill & Brush) cover only the pre-1930s and 1930s practice and do not govern a 1967 book.

## Is this the true first?
Little, Brown (Boston, with Toronto on the imprint) 1967 is the true first, and the census is confirmed. No contemporaneous British edition was documented in the sources consulted, so no UK-vs-US precedence question arises and the US first stands alone as the collected edition. The novel was well reviewed but sold modestly in 1967, and interest rose sharply after the 2021 film, which has pushed a large volume of later printings and reissues into the market described with "first edition" wording — a reason to check the copyright page rather than the year on the title page.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition is documented in the sources consulted. The dominant "first thus" trap is the 2001 Back Bay Books reissue (Little, Brown's paperback imprint), 293 pp, ISBN 0316610895, which adds an afterword by Annie Proulx; the Proulx afterword is hosted on Little, Brown's and Hachette's own sites, confirming its 2001 origin. Any copy containing the Proulx afterword is post-2001 by definition and is not the 1967 first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Power of the Dog* by Thomas Savage a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-power-of-the-dog
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.