How to identify a first printing
- Modern Pantheon (Knopf Doubleday / PRH): states 'First Edition' on the copyright page AND uses a descending number line ending in 1.
- A true first has both the 'First Edition' statement and the 1 present; reprints drop 'First Edition' and/or the 1.
- Earlier Pantheon (pre-RH, founded 1942): identification by absence of additional printings and by stated 'First Edition' / 'First Printing' where present.
- Borzoi/Knopf-family typography appears on some post-merger Pantheon books.
Notable points & cautions
- Founded 1942 by Kurt Wolff and Helen Wolff; literary/intellectual list (Camus, Pasternak's Doctor Zhivago US, Boris Vian, graphic novels later — Maus).
- Acquired by Random House 1961; now part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group within Penguin Random House.
- Follows the RH/Knopf 'First Edition' + line-to-1 convention in the modern era — among the cleaner houses to identify.
- Schocken (sister imprint, Jewish-interest) follows the same convention.
Imprints
First editions also appear under: Schocken Books (sister). Each generally follows the house convention above.
Frequently asked questions
How do I know if my Pantheon Books book is a first edition?
Check the copyright page. Modern Pantheon (Knopf Doubleday / PRH): states 'First Edition' on the copyright page AND uses a descending number line ending in 1. A true first has both the 'First Edition' statement and the 1 present; reprints drop 'First Edition' and/or the 1.
Does Pantheon Books use a number line?
A true first has both the 'First Edition' statement and the 1 present; reprints drop 'First Edition' and/or the 1.
Is a book-club edition a Pantheon Books first edition?
No. Book-club editions reprint the text but are not the true first edition. Founded 1942 by Kurt Wolff and Helen Wolff; literary/intellectual list (Camus, Pasternak's Doctor Zhivago US, Boris Vian, graphic novels later — Maus).
What era does this cover?
This covers Pantheon Books (1942–present). Conventions changed over time, so confirm the era of your copy.
Pantheon Books titles with documented first-edition points
Each link opens that title’s specific points of issue — the exact marks that separate a true first printing from a later one.
- A Match to the Heart: One Woman's Story of Being Struck by Lightning (Gretel Ehrlich, 1994)
- A Naturalist on Lake Maracaibo — n/a; instead: The Outermost companion: Gift from the Sea (Anne Morrow Lindbergh, 1955)
- An Unspoken Hunger: Stories from the Field (Terry Tempest Williams, 1994)
- Asterios Polyp (David Mazzucchelli, 2009)
- Black Hole (Charles Burns, 2005)
- Blow-Up and Other Stories (orig. 'End of the Game and Other Stories') (Julio Cortázar (trans. Paul Blackburn), 1967)
- Breakdowns (Art Spiegelman, 1977)
- Building Stories (Chris Ware, 2012)
- Chicken with Plums (Poulet aux prunes) (Marjane Satrapi, 2004)
- David Boring (Daniel Clowes, 2000)
- Desert Quartet: An Erotic Landscape (Terry Tempest Williams, 1995)
- Embroideries (Marjane Satrapi, 2005)
- Epileptic (L'Ascension du Haut Mal) (David B. (Pierre-François Beauchard), 1996–2004 (France) / 2005 (US single-volume))
- Fidelity: Five Stories (Wendell Berry, 1992)
- Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman (James Gleick, 1992)
- Habibi (Craig Thompson, 2011)
- Hopscotch (Julio Cortázar (trans. Gregory Rabassa), 1966)
- Ice Haven (Daniel Clowes, 2005)
- Imaginative Qualities of Actual Things (Gilbert Sorrentino, 1971)
- In the Shadow of No Towers (Art Spiegelman, 2004)
- Interior Chinatown (Charles Yu, 2020)
- Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth (Chris Ware, 2000)
- Leap (Terry Tempest Williams, 2000)
- Maus I: A Survivor's Tale — My Father Bleeds History (Art Spiegelman, 1986)
Documenting 51 Pantheon Books titles in all — browse the full title-by-title library →