# Is "The Stone Diaries" by Carol Shields a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields (Random House of Canada, 1993) is identified by: Random House of Canada first printing (1993): the copyright page carries NO edition statement and NO number line; first printings are identified by the absence of any later-printing notation (later printings are noted). Precedence among the 1993 editions is genuinely contested: the book appeared in 1993 from both Random House of Canada and Fourth Estate (UK), either of which may be the world first, while Viking (US) followed in 1994.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Random House of Canada first printing
- : the copyright page carries NO edition statement and NO number line; first printings are identified by the absence of any later-printing notation (later printings are noted)
- The US Viking edition is dated 1994 and is the Pulitzer-cited printing
- Publisher imprint reads Random House of Canada
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Carol Shields |
| Publisher | Random House of Canada |
| Year | 1993 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Random House of Canada first printing |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
Random House of Canada first printing (1993): the copyright page carries NO edition statement and NO number line; first printings are identified by the absence of any later-printing notation (later printings are noted). The US Viking edition is dated 1994 and is the Pulitzer-cited printing.

## Is this the true first?
Precedence among the 1993 editions is genuinely contested: the book appeared in 1993 from both Random House of Canada and Fourth Estate (UK), either of which may be the world first, while Viking (US) followed in 1994. The 1994 US Viking edition is the one cited for the Pulitzer (Shields held dual US/Canadian citizenship). Collectors should treat the 1993 Canadian and 1993 UK editions as the precedence candidates and verify by imprint and date.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The Canadian first has no edition statement or number line, so it cannot be distinguished from a book-club copy by those points alone; verify the 'Random House of Canada' imprint, the 1993 date, and the absence of any later-printing notation. US book-club copies of the Viking edition typically carry a rear-board blind-stamp.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Stone Diaries* by Carol Shields a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-stone-diaries
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.