NMLP P-037905 · True-first precedence · minted 2026-07-19
Blackwater (I: The Flood through VI: Rain)
Michael McDowell · Avon Books, New York (six monthly paperback originals) · 1983
US precedence, uncontested: the Avon paperback originals of January-June 1983 are the first appearance of the text, with no UK edition and no hardcover preceding them. The most important 'first thus' trap is Avon's own: Avon collected volumes I-III and IV-VI into two omnibus paperbacks in 1983, immediately after the serial run, and those omnibuses are frequently offered as 'Blackwater first edition 1983' — they are not the first appearance. Valancourt Books issued the first-ever one-volume edition in 2017; it too is 'first thus.'
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New Mexico Literacy Project — True-first precedence NMLP P-037905 for "Blackwater (I: The Flood through VI: Rain)" by Michael McDowell (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/id/point/p-037905, CC BY 4.0, dataset DOI 10.5281/zenodo.21184548).