# Is "The Wolf and the Dove" by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Wolf and the Dove by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss (Avon Books, 1974) is identified by: Avon mass-market paperback original (Woodiwiss's second novel, a Norman-conquest historical). The paperback original is the true first; there was no simultaneous hardcover.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Avon mass-market paperback original (Woodiwiss's second novel, a Norman-conquest historical)
- The first Avon printing carries the original cover price and a copyright page with no later-printing statement
- Identify the first printing by the absence of any 'Nth printing' line and the period Avon spine logo; later printings are numbered
- Publisher imprint reads Avon Books
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Kathleen E. Woodiwiss |
| Publisher | Avon Books |
| Year | 1974 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Avon mass-market paperback original (Woodiwiss's second novel, a Norman-conquest historical) |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Avon mass-market paperback original (Woodiwiss's second novel, a Norman-conquest historical). The first Avon printing carries the original cover price and a copyright page with no later-printing statement. Identify the first printing by the absence of any 'Nth printing' line and the period Avon spine logo; later printings are numbered.

## Is this the true first?
The paperback original is the true first; there was no simultaneous hardcover. It precedes all reissues.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club hardcover. Later Avon printings show elevated cover prices and explicit printing statements (collectors report runs well into the dozens of printings). Any hardcover binding seen in the market is a later or rebound copy, not the first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Wolf and the Dove* by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-wolf-and-the-dove
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.