# Is "A Kiss Before Dying" by Ira Levin a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of A Kiss Before Dying by Ira Levin (Simon and Schuster, 1953) is identified by: First printings state 'first printing' on the copyright page; copies without that stated first printing are later. True first is the US Simon and Schuster edition (New York, 1953), preceding the first UK edition (Michael Joseph, London, 1954), which is collected separately: black cloth lettered in white and red on the spine, in the Dennis Beytagh-illustrated dust jacket.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First printings state 'first printing' on the copyright page; copies without that stated first printing are later
- The binding is green cloth with the title stamped in black on the spine, 244 pages, in a pictorial dust jacket with the price present at the flap
- This was Levin's debut novel and won the 1954 Edgar Award for Best First Novel
- Publisher imprint reads Simon and Schuster
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Ira Levin |
| Publisher | Simon and Schuster |
| Year | 1953 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First printings state 'first printing' on the copyright page; copies without that stated first printing are later |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First printings state 'first printing' on the copyright page; copies without that stated first printing are later. The binding is green cloth with the title stamped in black on the spine, 244 pages, in a pictorial dust jacket with the price present at the flap. This was Levin's debut novel and won the 1954 Edgar Award for Best First Novel.

## Is this the true first?
True first is the US Simon and Schuster edition (New York, 1953), preceding the first UK edition (Michael Joseph, London, 1954), which is collected separately: black cloth lettered in white and red on the spine, in the Dennis Beytagh-illustrated dust jacket.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No 1953 book-club tell is documented in the sources consulted. Note that the leather-bound Franklin Library reprint (1989) is sometimes marketed with first-edition language; it is a much later reprint, not the 1953 first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *A Kiss Before Dying* by Ira Levin a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/a-kiss-before-dying
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.