# Is "The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West" by David McCullough a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West by David McCullough (Simon & Schuster, 2019) is identified by: The first printing carries the Simon & Schuster 'First Edition' statement together with a number line on the copyright page in which the presence of the numeral 1 confirms the first printing (S&S's convention prints this as 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2). US true first is the 2019 Simon & Schuster hardcover; ISBN 9781501168680.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The first printing carries the Simon & Schuster 'First Edition' statement together with a number line on the copyright page in which the presence of the numeral 1 confirms the first printing (S&S's convention prints this as 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2)
- The text block has deckle (rough front) edges and color-illustrated endsheets reproducing a historical painting of the Ohio River near Marietta
- The first-issue dust jacket should retain its printed price (unclipped preferred; price presence, not any amount, is the point)
- Publisher imprint reads Simon & Schuster
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | David McCullough |
| Publisher | Simon & Schuster |
| Year | 2019 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The first printing carries the Simon & Schuster 'First Edition' statement together with a number line on the copyright page in which the… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
The first printing carries the Simon & Schuster 'First Edition' statement together with a number line on the copyright page in which the presence of the numeral 1 confirms the first printing (S&S's convention prints this as 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2). The text block has deckle (rough front) edges and color-illustrated endsheets reproducing a historical painting of the Ohio River near Marietta. The first-issue dust jacket should retain its printed price (unclipped preferred; price presence, not any amount, is the point).

## Is this the true first?
US true first is the 2019 Simon & Schuster hardcover; ISBN 9781501168680. No earlier edition precedes it.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No prominent book-club edition noted. Confirm a first printing by the 'First Edition' statement plus the number line containing 1; later printings drop the 1.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West* by David McCullough a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-pioneers-the-heroic-story-of-the-settlers-who-brought-th
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.