# Is "The Vanishing Half" by Brit Bennett a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett (Riverhead Books, 2020) is identified by: The Riverhead first printing is an UNSTATED first edition: the copyright page does not print the words First Edition. The US Riverhead edition (June 2020) is the true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The Riverhead first printing is an UNSTATED first edition: the copyright page does not print the words First Edition
- The point of issue is a complete number line ending in 1
- First-state jacket is without later bestseller bands
- Blue paper-covered boards with red/orange spine lettering
- Publisher imprint reads Riverhead Books
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Brit Bennett |
| Publisher | Riverhead Books |
| Year | 2020 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The Riverhead first printing is an UNSTATED first edition: the copyright page does not print the words First Edition |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
The Riverhead first printing is an UNSTATED first edition: the copyright page does not print the words First Edition. The point of issue is a complete number line ending in 1. First-state jacket is without later bestseller bands. Blue paper-covered boards with red/orange spine lettering.

## Is this the true first?
The US Riverhead edition (June 2020) is the true first. The UK Dialogue Books (Little, Brown) edition followed.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition is the issue. Later printings lack the 1 in the number line and add bestseller bands to the jacket.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Vanishing Half* by Brit Bennett a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-vanishing-half
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.