The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter is the first novel by Carson McCullers, published by Houghton Mifflin in Boston in 1940, when she was 23. Set in a 1930s Georgia mill town, it centres on John Singer, a deaf man who becomes confidant to four townspeople. Cresset Press published it in London in 1943.
- Editions tracked
- 2
- First edition
- Houghton Mifflin, 1940
- First published
- Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1940
- First UK edition
- Cresset Press, 1943
The first edition of The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers was published in Boston by Houghton Mifflin in 1940. We track 2 editions.
Which edition do you have?
First edition
- 1st Houghton Mifflin1940 Hardback Sold £1,300 · Jul 2021 I own The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, Houghton Mifflin 1940 Log in to want this
Later and other editions
- Cresset Press1943 Hardback I own The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, Cresset Press 1943 Log in to want this
We have not yet researched the issue points for this book. If you know how to tell the first from later printings, tell us and we will credit you once it is checked against a second source.
Awards, adaptations and setting
In print
- Editions recorded
- 64 on Open Library, 41 in English
- Wikipedia
- Articles in 19 languages
From Wikidata and Open Library, both CC0. A prize or a new adaptation often lifts demand for the first printing.
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Who published the first edition of The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter?
The first edition of The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers was published in Boston by Houghton Mifflin in 1940.
How many editions of The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter are there?
We track 2 editions of The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, including 1 first edition. Each has its own page with how to identify it.
Where these facts come from
- The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, Wikipedia, 2026 (en.wikipedia.org)
- The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter editions, Open Library (openlibrary.org)
Every fact on this page was checked against the sources listed. Checked 19 October 2026. Reviewed by Harriet Ellis; read how we check facts.