# Is "A Grief Observed" by C.S. Lewis a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis (Faber & Faber, 1961) is identified by: First UK edition, Faber and Faber, London, 1961, published under the pseudonym N. UK Faber true first, as by N.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First UK edition, Faber and Faber, London, 1961, published under the pseudonym N. W. Clerk; slim octavo in publisher's grey cloth lettered in gilt to the spine, issued in the first-issue grey and light-green pictorial dust jacket with the title and author in black and light-green lettering
- The verso carries 'First published in mcmlxi' with no later-impression statement, and the jacket should retain its printed price to the flap
- Publisher imprint reads Faber & Faber
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | C.S. Lewis |
| Publisher | Faber & Faber |
| Year | 1961 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First UK edition, Faber and Faber, London, 1961, published under the pseudonym N. W. Clerk; slim octavo in publisher's grey cloth lettered… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First UK edition, Faber and Faber, London, 1961, published under the pseudonym N. W. Clerk; slim octavo in publisher's grey cloth lettered in gilt to the spine, issued in the first-issue grey and light-green pictorial dust jacket with the title and author in black and light-green lettering. The verso carries 'First published in mcmlxi' with no later-impression statement, and the jacket should retain its printed price to the flap.

## Is this the true first?
UK Faber true first, as by N. W. Clerk; the US Seabury Press edition followed in 1963. Lewis and his agent Spencer Curtis Brown placed the manuscript with Faber, where director T. S. Eliot approved it. The pseudonymous first issue with the Clerk attribution and 'First published in mcmlxi' verso is the key identifying point.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Posthumous and later editions credit Lewis by name on the title page and jacket; only the 1961 Faber first appears as by N. W. Clerk.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *A Grief Observed* by C.S. Lewis a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/a-grief-observed
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.