# Is "The Talented Mr. Ripley (Ripley's Game)" by Patricia Highsmith a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Talented Mr. Ripley (Ripley's Game) by Patricia Highsmith (William Heinemann, 1974) is identified by: This entry is for RIPLEY'S GAME, the third Tom Ripley novel, not The Talented Mr. The UK Heinemann edition (11 March 1974) is the true first, preceding the US Knopf edition (May 1974) by about two months.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- This entry is for RIPLEY'S GAME, the third Tom Ripley novel, not The Talented Mr
- The true first is the UK William Heinemann hardback, published 11 March 1974
- The first US edition, Alfred A. Knopf, followed in May 1974 with text lightly Americanised
- On a Heinemann first impression the copyright page carries only the first-published statement with no later-impression line
- Publisher imprint reads William Heinemann
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Patricia Highsmith |
| Publisher | William Heinemann |
| Year | 1974 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | This entry is for RIPLEY'S GAME, the third Tom Ripley novel, not The Talented Mr |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
This entry is for RIPLEY'S GAME, the third Tom Ripley novel, not The Talented Mr. Ripley. The true first is the UK William Heinemann hardback, published 11 March 1974. The first US edition, Alfred A. Knopf, followed in May 1974 with text lightly Americanised. On a Heinemann first impression the copyright page carries only the first-published statement with no later-impression line.

## Is this the true first?
The UK Heinemann edition (11 March 1974) is the true first, preceding the US Knopf edition (May 1974) by about two months. Note that the title as listed conflates two different books: this record describes Ripley's Game, which is distinct from The Talented Mr. Ripley (1955), the first Ripley novel.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Book-club and later reprints lack the original first-impression jacket, carry reprint imprints or club blind-stamps, and show no first-published statement on the copyright page.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Talented Mr. Ripley (Ripley's Game)* by Patricia Highsmith a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-talented-mr-ripley-ripleys-game
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.