# Is "The Resurrection" by John Gardner a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Resurrection by John Gardner (The New American Library, 1966) is identified by: The first printing states 'First Printing' on the copyright page, consistent with documented New American Library practice of using a first-edition statement together with a number row. US New American Library (New York), 1966, is the true first — Gardner's first novel, preceded in his bibliography only by the co-edited anthology The Forms of Fiction, and the first Gardner 'A' item of fiction.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The first printing states 'First Printing' on the copyright page, consistent with documented New American Library practice of using a first-edition statement together with a number row
- The book is an octavo bound in black cloth spine with brown faux-grain paper boards, the spine lettered in gilt; the jacket was designed by Ken Braren and should be a priced jacket with the price present at the flap
- The first printing was 2,500 copies, and the title is catalogued as Howell A.IV-1a
- Note that sources consulted disagree on the collation (241 pp. vs
- 244 pp.), so pagination is not offered as a point; rely on the copyright-page statement
- Publisher imprint reads The New American Library
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | John Gardner |
| Publisher | The New American Library |
| Year | 1966 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The first printing states 'First Printing' on the copyright page, consistent with documented New American Library practice of using a… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
The first printing states 'First Printing' on the copyright page, consistent with documented New American Library practice of using a first-edition statement together with a number row. The book is an octavo bound in black cloth spine with brown faux-grain paper boards, the spine lettered in gilt; the jacket was designed by Ken Braren and should be a priced jacket with the price present at the flap. The first printing was 2,500 copies, and the title is catalogued as Howell A.IV-1a. Note that sources consulted disagree on the collation (241 pp. vs. 244 pp.), so pagination is not offered as a point; rely on the copyright-page statement.

## Is this the true first?
US New American Library (New York), 1966, is the true first — Gardner's first novel, preceded in his bibliography only by the co-edited anthology The Forms of Fiction, and the first Gardner 'A' item of fiction. No contemporaneous British edition was traced in the sources consulted, so no UK/US precedence question arises on the evidence available. Published during David Segal's brief editorial tenure at NAL (1966-68). The later Ballantine paperback (0345238818) is a reprint, not a first.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue of The Resurrection is documented in the sources consulted, and a first printing of 2,500 copies makes a contemporaneous club issue unlikely. The Ballantine paperback is a reprint rather than a club edition. Any copy lacking the 'First Printing' statement on the copyright page is a later printing or reprint.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Resurrection* by John Gardner a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-resurrection
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.