# Is "The White Dragon" by Anne McCaffrey a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The White Dragon by Anne McCaffrey (Del Rey / Ballantine Books, New York, 1978) is identified by: The first printing states "First Edition: June 1978" on the copyright page with no further printings listed beneath it. US Del Rey/Ballantine first of June 1978 is the true first of the complete novel, confirming the census claim.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The first printing states "First Edition: June 1978" on the copyright page with no further printings listed beneath it
- Bound in cloth-backed boards — cream/tan paper boards with a blue cloth spine strip lettered in silver
- Jacket art by Michael Whelan, depicting Ruth the white dragon
- The first edition contains a two-page map of Pern and a seventeen-page "Dragondex" glossary of peoples and terms
- Issued in a priced jacket, with the price present at the flap on unclipped copies
- Publisher imprint reads Del Rey / Ballantine Books, New York
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Anne McCaffrey |
| Publisher | Del Rey / Ballantine Books, New York |
| Year | 1978 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The first printing states "First Edition: June 1978" on the copyright page with no further printings listed beneath it |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
The first printing states "First Edition: June 1978" on the copyright page with no further printings listed beneath it. Bound in cloth-backed boards — cream/tan paper boards with a blue cloth spine strip lettered in silver. Jacket art by Michael Whelan, depicting Ruth the white dragon. The first edition contains a two-page map of Pern and a seventeen-page "Dragondex" glossary of peoples and terms. Issued in a priced jacket, with the price present at the flap on unclipped copies.

## Is this the true first?
US Del Rey/Ballantine first of June 1978 is the true first of the complete novel, confirming the census claim. The claim that this is the first Pern hardcover original also holds up, but only on the specific sense of "hardcover original": Dragonflight (Ballantine, 1968) and Dragonquest (Ballantine, 1971) were both paperback originals whose hardcovers came later and from other houses (Dragonflight in the UK from Rapp & Whiting, 1968, and in the US from Walker & Company, 1969; Dragonquest in the UK from Rapp & Whiting/André Deutsch, 1973), so The White Dragon is the first Pern novel issued first in hardcover. Watch one first-appearance trap: the NESFA Press limited edition A Time When (1975) prints the opening section that became part of the novel, so it — not the Del Rey book — is the first appearance of that portion of the text.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Book-club printings of the 1978 Del Rey hardcover are the common trap and are told by the absence of the "First Edition: June 1978" line on the copyright page, a blind-stamped device at the lower rear board, no price at the jacket flap, a smaller trim than the trade issue, and noticeably lighter/cheaper boards. Later Del Rey hardcover printings simply add printing statements below the June 1978 line.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The White Dragon* by Anne McCaffrey a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-white-dragon
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.