# Is "A Wanted Man" by Lee Child a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of A Wanted Man by Lee Child (Bantam Press, 2012) is identified by: UK Bantam Press hardcover is the true first: confirm the Bantam Press imprint and 2012 dating. The UK Bantam Press (Transworld) hardcover was published on 30 August 2012, ahead of the US Delacorte Press edition on 11 September 2012.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- UK Bantam Press hardcover is the true first: confirm the Bantam Press imprint and 2012 dating
- The US Delacorte printing states 'First Edition' with a number line ending in 1, which marks the US first printing only
- Publisher imprint reads Bantam Press
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Lee Child |
| Publisher | Bantam Press |
| Year | 2012 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | UK Bantam Press hardcover is the true first: confirm the Bantam Press imprint and 2012… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
UK Bantam Press hardcover is the true first: confirm the Bantam Press imprint and 2012 dating. The US Delacorte printing states 'First Edition' with a number line ending in 1, which marks the US first printing only.

## Is this the true first?
The UK Bantam Press (Transworld) hardcover was published on 30 August 2012, ahead of the US Delacorte Press edition on 11 September 2012. The UK Bantam Press hardcover is the true first edition; the US Delacorte is the first US printing. Seventeenth Reacher novel.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
None significant.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *A Wanted Man* by Lee Child a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/a-wanted-man
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-03.