# Is "Winter in the Blood" by James Welch a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Winter in the Blood by James Welch (Harper & Row, 1974) is identified by: First printing states "FIRST EDITION" on the copyright page. US Harper & Row, New York, 1974 is the true first and the only collected first; it was the third title issued under Harper & Row's Native American Publishing Program.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First printing states "FIRST EDITION" on the copyright page
- Critically, for Harper & Row titles of this period (1969 to the mid-1970s) the printing key is NOT on the copyright page but in the gutter at the foot of the final leaf, immediately before the rear free endpaper; a first printing's row ends in 1
- Harper & Row was notoriously inconsistent about deleting the "FIRST EDITION" statement from later printings, so the statement alone does not establish a first — the terminal number row must be checked
- Collation: [x], 176, [4] pp., octavo (approx
- 21.5 cm), bound in blue paper over boards backed in brown cloth, spine lettered in gilt
- Jacket should be present, unclipped, with the price still at the flap
- Publisher imprint reads Harper & Row

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | James Welch |
| Publisher | Harper & Row |
| Year | 1974 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First printing states "FIRST EDITION" on the copyright page |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First printing states "FIRST EDITION" on the copyright page. Critically, for Harper & Row titles of this period (1969 to the mid-1970s) the printing key is NOT on the copyright page but in the gutter at the foot of the final leaf, immediately before the rear free endpaper; a first printing's row ends in 1. Harper & Row was notoriously inconsistent about deleting the "FIRST EDITION" statement from later printings, so the statement alone does not establish a first — the terminal number row must be checked. Collation: [x], 176, [4] pp., octavo (approx. 21.5 cm), bound in blue paper over boards backed in brown cloth, spine lettered in gilt. Jacket should be present, unclipped, with the price still at the flap. One further point circulates — an erroneous SBN/ISBN on the rear jacket panel said to mark a first-state jacket — but it rests on a single dealer and the digits cited differ between reports; it is recorded here as unconfirmed and should not be used as a test of issue.

## Is this the true first?
US Harper & Row, New York, 1974 is the true first and the only collected first; it was the third title issued under Harper & Row's Native American Publishing Program. No competing UK hardcover first is recorded — Welch was published first in America. The Bantam paperback (1975) and all Penguin / Penguin Classics issues are later reprints. The G. K. Hall large-print edition (Boston, 1986) is a "first thus" trap: hardcover, but a reprint.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No US book-club issue is documented for the 1974 Harper & Row printing. Later Harper / HarperCollins, Bantam, Penguin and Penguin Classics issues carry their own imprints and ISBNs and are readily separated. The 1986 G. K. Hall large-print hardcover is a reprint despite its format.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Winter in the Blood* by James Welch a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/winter-in-the-blood
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.