# Is "Waiting for Winter" by John O'Hara a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Waiting for Winter by John O'Hara (Random House, 1966) is identified by: Collection of twenty-one stories, subtitled A Collection of 21 New Stories. The United States Random House edition (1966) is the true first; the Hodder & Stoughton London edition followed in 1967.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Collection of twenty-one stories, subtitled A Collection of 21 New Stories
- The true first carries the words FIRST PRINTING on the copyright page; later printings substitute a printing history in its place
- Bound in red cloth lettered in gilt
- 466 pages
- The first-issue dust jacket should retain its printed price on the front flap, but because these copies are commonly encountered price-clipped, the presence or absence of the clipped price does not affect first-printing status, which is fixed by the FIRST PRINTING statement in the book
- Publisher imprint reads Random House
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | John O'Hara |
| Publisher | Random House |
| Year | 1966 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Collection of twenty-one stories, subtitled A Collection of 21 New Stories |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Collection of twenty-one stories, subtitled A Collection of 21 New Stories. The true first carries the words FIRST PRINTING on the copyright page; later printings substitute a printing history in its place. Bound in red cloth lettered in gilt; 466 pages. The first-issue dust jacket should retain its printed price on the front flap, but because these copies are commonly encountered price-clipped, the presence or absence of the clipped price does not affect first-printing status, which is fixed by the FIRST PRINTING statement in the book.

## Is this the true first?
The United States Random House edition (1966) is the true first; the Hodder & Stoughton London edition followed in 1967.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later Random House printings are indicated by a changed printing statement on the copyright page (a printing history) rather than the FIRST PRINTING line.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Waiting for Winter* by John O'Hara a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/waiting-for-winter
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.