# Is "Viet Journal" by James Jones a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Viet Journal by James Jones (Delacorte Press, 1974) is identified by: First printing, 268 pages, a non-fiction day-by-day account of Jones's 1973 reportorial trip to South Vietnam for the New York Times Magazine. US Delacorte 1974 is the true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First printing, 268 pages, a non-fiction day-by-day account of Jones's 1973 reportorial trip to South Vietnam for the New York Times Magazine
- Consistent with Delacorte practice for its titles of this period, the first printing is identified by the words "First Printing" stated on the copyright page with no later printing dates or numbers added
- Publisher imprint reads Delacorte Press
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | James Jones |
| Publisher | Delacorte Press |
| Year | 1974 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First printing, 268 pages, a non-fiction day-by-day account of Jones's 1973 reportorial trip to South Vietnam for the New York Times… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First printing, 268 pages, a non-fiction day-by-day account of Jones's 1973 reportorial trip to South Vietnam for the New York Times Magazine. Consistent with Delacorte practice for its titles of this period, the first printing is identified by the words "First Printing" stated on the copyright page with no later printing dates or numbers added.

## Is this the true first?
US Delacorte 1974 is the true first.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later printings are stated as such on the copyright page, which on the first printing reads simply "First Printing."

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Viet Journal* by James Jones a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/viet-journal
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.