6 Doris Lessing first editions are documented on this shelf, from The Grass Is Singing (1950) to The Fifth Child (1988) across 4 different publishers. Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that Doris Lessing title from later printings and book-club copies — the publisher and year to expect, the number-line or edition-statement conventions, and the tells that show up in online listings.
Identification only, per the house rule: no prices and no appraisals here. Checking a Doris Lessing copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.
- The Grass Is Singing — 1950 · Michael JosephLondon: Michael Joseph, 1950. States 'First published … 1950'; original sepia/brown cloth, spine lettered in yellow, 256 pages. Pictorial dust jacket with its printed price in sterling. Lessing's debut novel. The UK Michael Joseph precedes the US Thomas Y. Crowell 1950 edition. The true first is the UK Michael Joseph 1950 edition (Lessing's debut), scarce in jacket; the US Crowell edition is a later first-thus. Note that a 'second impression before publication' exists, so confirm first-impression status, not just the 1950 date. No club edition of note; primary pitfalls are a later impression (including the pre-publication second impression) or the US Crowell edition offered as the first.
- Martha Quest — 1952 · Michael JosephFirst published in 1952 by Michael Joseph, London, in green textured cloth boards with the title stamped in gilt on the spine, collating to 319 pages. Dust jacket designed by Peter Rudland; the fragile first-state jacket commonly shows toning to the spine panel and shallow chipping at the spine ends, and should retain the original printed price. First of the 'Children of Violence' sequence and Lessing's second…. The UK Michael Joseph edition (1952) is the true first. The first US edition appeared substantially later in the 1960s; the UK edition strongly precedes. No notable book-club edition; confirm the Michael Joseph imprint, the 1952 date, and the Rudland jacket.
- The Golden Notebook — 1962 · Michael JosephLondon: Michael Joseph, 1962. States 'First published … 1962'; black boards with gilt spine lettering, 568 pages. First-issue typographic dust jacket with its printed price, with a photograph of Lessing on the rear panel; the jacket is notably thin and fragile. The UK Michael Joseph precedes the US Simon & Schuster 1962 edition. The true first is the UK Michael Joseph 1962 edition; the US Simon & Schuster is a later first-thus, distinguished by its stated first printing and dollar-priced flap. Lessing's landmark novel. No major club edition; watch for later restored/reissued texts and the US printing being described as the first.
- Briefing for a Descent into Hell — 1971 · Jonathan CapeFirst published in 1971 by Jonathan Cape, London, in a crown octavo bound in dark brown boards with the backstrip lettered in gilt. The dust jacket was designed by Alan Tunbridge, with a black spine and contrasting lettering; a first-state jacket retains its printed price and should be unclipped. The UK Cape edition (1971) is the true first. The US Knopf edition appeared the same year and is the first American edition; the UK edition is conventionally regarded as preceding it. The novel was shortlisted for the 1971 Booker Prize. No notable book-club edition.
- The Memoirs of a Survivor — 1974 · Octagon PressTrue first published by Octagon Press, London, in 1974 - an unusual small-press first for Lessing. Octavo, green cloth boards with gilt lettering to the spine, 182 pages followed by several leaves of publisher's advertisements, in the first-state dust jacket. The jacket bears the printed price on the flap, which should be present on a collector's copy. The UK Octagon Press edition (1974) is the true first; the US Alfred A. Knopf edition (New York, 1975) follows. No notable book-club edition. The later Knopf US printing and subsequent paperbacks are reprints, not the precedence point.
- The Fifth Child — 1988 · Jonathan CapeFirst published 1988 by Jonathan Cape, London, ISBN 0-224-02553-8; a slim octavo of roughly 133 pages measuring about 22.5 by 14.5 cm, bound in black boards lettered in gilt on the spine and issued in a printed dust jacket that should retain its original printed price. The UK Jonathan Cape edition (1988) is the true first and is conventionally regarded as preceding the US Alfred A. Knopf edition of the same year; the Knopf issue is the first American edition and is distinguished by its quarter black cloth over brown boards with gilt spine lettering. No notable book-club edition; distinguish the UK Cape boards from the US Knopf quarter-cloth binding when identifying the first.
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