# Is "A Small Town in Germany" by John le Carré a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of A Small Town in Germany by John le Carré (William Heinemann, 1968) is identified by: The Heinemann first states "First published 1968" on the copyright page and is bound in burgundy/maroon cloth-covered boards with gilt lettering to the spine; ISBN 0 434 10930 4. Census claim CONFIRMED, but the margin is narrow and should be stated honestly.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The Heinemann first states "First published 1968" on the copyright page and is bound in burgundy/maroon cloth-covered boards with gilt lettering to the spine
- ISBN 0 434 10930 4
- Two independent ABA/ILAB-level dealer collations agree on the cloth colour and the gilt spine titling, and on the copyright-page wording, which is the primary check
- Unclipped jackets retain the price at the front flap; note that export copies exist with the jacket priced for the Australian market rather than in sterling, and these are export issues of the same first printing, not a separate edition
- Beware assuming a top-edge stain or a specific jacket designer for the Heinemann issue — neither is corroborated in the sources consulted, and no reliable first-state text error is documented for this title
- Publisher imprint reads William Heinemann
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | John le Carré |
| Publisher | William Heinemann |
| Year | 1968 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The Heinemann first states "First published 1968" on the copyright page and is bound in burgundy/maroon cloth-covered boards with gilt… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
The Heinemann first states "First published 1968" on the copyright page and is bound in burgundy/maroon cloth-covered boards with gilt lettering to the spine; ISBN 0 434 10930 4. Two independent ABA/ILAB-level dealer collations agree on the cloth colour and the gilt spine titling, and on the copyright-page wording, which is the primary check. Unclipped jackets retain the price at the front flap; note that export copies exist with the jacket priced for the Australian market rather than in sterling, and these are export issues of the same first printing, not a separate edition. Beware assuming a top-edge stain or a specific jacket designer for the Heinemann issue — neither is corroborated in the sources consulted, and no reliable first-state text error is documented for this title.

## Is this the true first?
Census claim CONFIRMED, but the margin is narrow and should be stated honestly. The true first is William Heinemann, London, October 1968. The first American edition is Coward-McCann, New York, published 21 October 1968 (per the Kirkus review record) — a distinct setting in orange cloth with gilt lettering to front board and spine, red top-stain, jacket designed by Lennie Slonevsky, referenced as Ahearn APG 006c. The two are near-simultaneous, and precedence rests principally on the fact that the Coward-McCann copyright page states "First American Edition": Coward-McCann's documented post-1935 practice was to apply that statement only to books first published outside the United States and to make no statement on books originating in the US, which places the Heinemann edition first. Both editions are collected; the Coward-McCann is the first US appearance.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
A US book-club issue of the Coward-McCann setting is common: unpriced at the jacket flap, blind-stamped or dot-marked to the rear board, smaller and bulked on cheaper paper. A large-type edition dated 1968 also circulates and is sometimes mislisted as a first American edition — it is a separate later setting and is not the first. Later Heinemann impressions add an impression line beneath the "First published 1968" statement.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *A Small Town in Germany* by John le Carré a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/a-small-town-in-germany
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.