# Is "The Virginian" by Owen Wister a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Virginian by Owen Wister (Macmillan, 1902) is identified by: First printing has a copyright page reading "Copyright, 1902, By The Macmillan Company. US Macmillan (1902) is the true first—the foundational cowboy novel.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First printing has a copyright page reading "Copyright, 1902, By The Macmillan Company
- Set up and electrotyped
- Published April, 1902" with no later months listed
- Issued in tan cloth, the upper cover lettered in red with a red, black, and gilt pictorial design of a holstered pistol intertwined with a lariat
- Collation xiv, 504, [6] pp.; eight black-and-white plates by Arthur I. Keller
- The dedication to Theodore Roosevelt appears in this and all subsequent printings, so it is not a distinguishing point
- Publisher imprint reads Macmillan

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Owen Wister |
| Publisher | Macmillan |
| Year | 1902 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First printing has a copyright page reading "Copyright, 1902, By The Macmillan Company |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First printing has a copyright page reading "Copyright, 1902, By The Macmillan Company. Set up and electrotyped. Published April, 1902" with no later months listed. Issued in tan cloth, the upper cover lettered in red with a red, black, and gilt pictorial design of a holstered pistol intertwined with a lariat. Collation xiv, 504, [6] pp.; eight black-and-white plates by Arthur I. Keller. The dedication to Theodore Roosevelt appears in this and all subsequent printings, so it is not a distinguishing point. Later 1902 printings add subsequent months ("Reprinted May, 1902," June, July, August, and onward) to the copyright statement.

## Is this the true first?
US Macmillan (1902) is the true first—the foundational cowboy novel. Precedence among 1902 Macmillan printings is determined by the copyright-page reprint listing: the first printing shows only 'Published April, 1902' with no subsequent reprint dates. Multiple 1902 printings exist, so the reprint list is decisive.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No 1902 book-club edition. The confusion is the numerous 1902-and-later reprints: copies whose copyright statement names later months (May 1902 onward), copies with weak or absent pictorial gilt, and Grosset & Dunlap and other reprint-house editions. The decisive check is "Published April, 1902" with no later months listed.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Virginian* by Owen Wister a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-virginian
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.