# Is "Showdown at Yellow Butte (as Jim Mayo)" by Louis L'Amour a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Showdown at Yellow Butte (as Jim Mayo) by Louis L'Amour (Ace Books, 1953) is identified by: Ace Double paperback original, catalog number D-38 (1953), published under the pseudonym 'Jim Mayo' and bound tete-beche (back-to-back, dos-a-dos) with Bliss Lomax's 'Outlaw River'. True first US in book form; an early pseudonymous Ace Double paperback original, later absorbed into the collected L'Amour canon under his own name.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Ace Double paperback original, catalog number D-38
- , published under the pseudonym 'Jim Mayo' and bound tete-beche (back-to-back, dos-a-dos) with Bliss Lomax's 'Outlaw River'
- Perfect-bound pictorial wrappers, no dust jacket as issued; the two novels share the single volume with inverted texts meeting in the middle
- The story had earlier appeared in magazine form as 'Showdown on the Hogback'
- Publisher imprint reads Ace Books
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Louis L'Amour |
| Publisher | Ace Books |
| Year | 1953 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Ace Double paperback original, catalog number D-38 |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Ace Double paperback original, catalog number D-38 (1953), published under the pseudonym 'Jim Mayo' and bound tete-beche (back-to-back, dos-a-dos) with Bliss Lomax's 'Outlaw River'. Perfect-bound pictorial wrappers, no dust jacket as issued; the two novels share the single volume with inverted texts meeting in the middle. The story had earlier appeared in magazine form as 'Showdown on the Hogback'.

## Is this the true first?
True first US in book form; an early pseudonymous Ace Double paperback original, later absorbed into the collected L'Amour canon under his own name.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition; paperback original. Later stand-alone reprints under the Louis L'Amour name (Bantam and others) are not the first appearance.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Showdown at Yellow Butte (as Jim Mayo)* by Louis L'Amour a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/showdown-at-yellow-butte-as-jim-mayo
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.