# Is "A House for Mr Biswas" by V. S. Naipaul a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of A House for Mr Biswas by V. S. Naipaul (André Deutsch, 1961) is identified by: London: André Deutsch, 1961. The true first is the UK André Deutsch 1961 edition, the scarcest and most sought-after Naipaul first/first, especially in jacket.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- London: André Deutsch, 1961
- States 'First published 1961' on the copyright page; bound in red cloth boards with gilt spine lettering, 531 pages
- Dust jacket designed by Stephen Russ and with its printed price (unclipped)
- The UK Deutsch precedes the US McGraw-Hill 1961 edition
- Publisher imprint reads André Deutsch
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | V. S. Naipaul |
| Publisher | André Deutsch |
| Year | 1961 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | London: André Deutsch, 1961 |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
London: André Deutsch, 1961. States 'First published 1961' on the copyright page; bound in red cloth boards with gilt spine lettering, 531 pages. Dust jacket designed by Stephen Russ and with its printed price (unclipped). The UK Deutsch precedes the US McGraw-Hill 1961 edition.

## Is this the true first?
The true first is the UK André Deutsch 1961 edition, the scarcest and most sought-after Naipaul first/first, especially in jacket. The US McGraw-Hill is a later first-thus.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No club edition of note; the main pitfall is the US McGraw-Hill printing or a later UK impression offered as the true first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *A House for Mr Biswas* by V. S. Naipaul a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/a-house-for-mr-biswas
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.