# Is "A Burnt-Out Case" by Graham Greene a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of A Burnt-Out Case by Graham Greene (William Heinemann, 1961) is identified by: First English edition, first printing, Heinemann, London, 1961. The Heinemann 1961 edition is the first edition in English and the standard collected first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First English edition, first printing, Heinemann, London, 1961
- Black cloth with gilt spine lettering, 256 pages, dust jacket with its printed price This was Greene's last title with Heinemann before he moved to The Bodley Head
- Publisher imprint reads William Heinemann
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Graham Greene |
| Publisher | William Heinemann |
| Year | 1961 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First English edition, first printing, Heinemann, London, 1961 |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
First English edition, first printing, Heinemann, London, 1961. Black cloth with gilt spine lettering, 256 pages, dust jacket with its printed price This was Greene's last title with Heinemann before he moved to The Bodley Head.

## Is this the true first?
The Heinemann 1961 edition is the first edition in English and the standard collected first. However, a Swedish translation, Utbranden (Utbrand), was published by Norstedt in Stockholm in 1960, predating the English text. The US Viking edition also appeared in 1961.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Trade first precedes later book-club printings.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *A Burnt-Out Case* by Graham Greene a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/a-burnt-out-case
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.