# Is "The Watcher and Other Stories" by Italo Calvino a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Watcher and Other Stories by Italo Calvino (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1971) is identified by: First US edition, first printing, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York, 1971; translated from the Italian by William Weaver and Archibald Colquhoun. First English collection gathering The Watcher (La giornata d'uno scrutatore, 1963), Smog (La nuvola di smog, 1958), and The Argentine Ant (La formica argentina, 1952).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First US edition, first printing, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York, 1971; translated from the Italian by William Weaver and Archibald Colquhoun
- Octavo, 181 pages, bound in beige cloth stamped in black and gold on the spine, with the top edge stained green, in a printed pictorial dust jacket that carries a printed price on the front flap
- Publisher imprint reads Harcourt Brace Jovanovich
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Italo Calvino |
| Publisher | Harcourt Brace Jovanovich |
| Year | 1971 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First US edition, first printing, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York, 1971; translated… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
First US edition, first printing, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York, 1971; translated from the Italian by William Weaver and Archibald Colquhoun. Octavo, 181 pages, bound in beige cloth stamped in black and gold on the spine, with the top edge stained green, in a printed pictorial dust jacket that carries a printed price on the front flap.

## Is this the true first?
First English collection gathering The Watcher (La giornata d'uno scrutatore, 1963), Smog (La nuvola di smog, 1958), and The Argentine Ant (La formica argentina, 1952).

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
A book-club issue is identified by the absence of a printed price on the jacket flap; the true first carries a printed jacket price. Book-club copies are also typically lighter in weight with blind-stamped or dot-marked boards.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Watcher and Other Stories* by Italo Calvino a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-watcher-and-other-stories
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-03.