# Is "The Song of the Lark" by Willa Cather a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather (Houghton Mifflin, 1915) is identified by: Published October 1915, 489 pp., in blue cloth stamped in gilt on the front cover and spine; the copyright page carries the statement "Published October 1915." Two first-printing points are corroborated: boxed advertisements listing three titles appear on the copyright page, and page 8, third line from the bottom, reads "moment" — the uncorrected singular. The US Houghton Mifflin 1915 edition is the true first and the census claim is confirmed.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Published October 1915, 489 pp., in blue cloth stamped in gilt on the front cover and spine; the copyright page carries the statement "Published October 1915." Two first-printing points are corroborated: boxed advertisements listing three titles appear on the copyright page, and page 8, third line from the bottom, reads "moment" — the uncorrected singular
- The second printing corrects the reading to "moments," so a copy reading "moments" is not a first printing regardless of the date on the title page
- Crane records the first edition as A8.a.i, and a later binding variant in dull blue vertically ribbed cloth stamped in gilt is reported
- Publisher imprint reads Houghton Mifflin
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Willa Cather |
| Publisher | Houghton Mifflin |
| Year | 1915 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Published October 1915, 489 pp., in blue cloth stamped in gilt on the front cover and spine; the copyright page carries the statement… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Published October 1915, 489 pp., in blue cloth stamped in gilt on the front cover and spine; the copyright page carries the statement "Published October 1915." Two first-printing points are corroborated: boxed advertisements listing three titles appear on the copyright page, and page 8, third line from the bottom, reads "moment" — the uncorrected singular. The second printing corrects the reading to "moments," so a copy reading "moments" is not a first printing regardless of the date on the title page. Crane records the first edition as A8.a.i, and a later binding variant in dull blue vertically ribbed cloth stamped in gilt is reported.

## Is this the true first?
The US Houghton Mifflin 1915 edition is the true first and the census claim is confirmed. The first English edition was published by John Murray, London, in March 1916; per the Willa Cather Archive bibliography it was made up from American sheets rather than reset, so it is an English issue of the American setting and not a competing first. Collectors pursue the Houghton Mifflin 1915; the Murray is collected as the first English appearance only.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue exists for this title (it predates the American book clubs). The practical later-printing tells are textual and preliminary rather than a club stamp: the corrected "moments" at page 8 and changes to the list of the author's prior works in the front matter mark subsequent Houghton Mifflin printings. Beware later Houghton printings retaining the 1915 title-page date.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Song of the Lark* by Willa Cather a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-song-of-the-lark
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.