# Is "A Voyage to Arcturus" by David Lindsay a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of A Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay (Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1920) is identified by: The copyright page reads "First Published in 1920"; collation is pp. UK Methuen 1920 is the sole true first — there was no US edition until 1963 (Macmillan, New York), so the census's UK-only claim holds.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The copyright page reads "First Published in 1920"; collation is pp. [1-8] [1] 2-303 [304: printer's imprint], with an 8-page publisher's catalogue inserted at the rear
- The first binding is red cloth with the spine panel stamped in gold and the front cover stamped in blind
- A later, second binding on the same first-edition sheets is red mesh-weave cloth with front and spine panels stamped in black, top and fore edges trimmed and bottom edge untrimmed
- Because unsold sheets were bound up and reissued over several years, the inserted publisher's catalogue is the practical issue tell: an undated catalogue accompanies early copies, while a catalogue dated "925"
- marks a late reissue
- The first-issue jacket is printed in black on grey paper stock and is exceptionally rare — only three surviving examples are recorded
- Publisher imprint reads Methuen & Co. Ltd.

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | David Lindsay |
| Publisher | Methuen & Co. Ltd. |
| Year | 1920 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The copyright page reads "First Published in 1920"; collation is pp. [1-8] [1] 2-303 [304: printer's imprint], with an 8-page publisher's… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
The copyright page reads "First Published in 1920"; collation is pp. [1-8] [1] 2-303 [304: printer's imprint], with an 8-page publisher's catalogue inserted at the rear. The first binding is red cloth with the spine panel stamped in gold and the front cover stamped in blind. A later, second binding on the same first-edition sheets is red mesh-weave cloth with front and spine panels stamped in black, top and fore edges trimmed and bottom edge untrimmed. Because unsold sheets were bound up and reissued over several years, the inserted publisher's catalogue is the practical issue tell: an undated catalogue accompanies early copies, while a catalogue dated "925" (1925) marks a late reissue. The first-issue jacket is printed in black on grey paper stock and is exceptionally rare — only three surviving examples are recorded. Note: press-run figures are reported inconsistently across sources (1,250 / 1,430 / 1,500), so no single figure is asserted here; the 596-copies-sold figure is consistently cited.

## Is this the true first?
UK Methuen 1920 is the sole true first — there was no US edition until 1963 (Macmillan, New York), so the census's UK-only claim holds. The census figure of "~1,430 copies printed" is not settled: the scholarly Violet Apple site and Wikipedia give a press run of 1,430, L.W. Currey gives 1,250, and a Dominic Winter auction catalogue gives 1,500 for the first issue. Sources agree only that no more than 596 copies sold. The 1963 Gollancz (UK) and Macmillan (US) editions are reprints, not firsts.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition of the 1920 Methuen is documented. The reprint/reissue tells that matter are internal to the first edition: the second (black-stamped mesh-weave) binding and the dated inserted catalogue both indicate remainder sheets bound up years after publication, not a first issue. Later Gollancz (1963) and Macmillan (1963) printings are the common reprints mistaken for firsts.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *A Voyage to Arcturus* by David Lindsay a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/a-voyage-to-arcturus
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.