4 Naguib Mahfouz first editions are documented on this shelf, from Palace Walk (1956) to The Thief and the Dogs (al-Liss wa al-Kilab) (1984) across 4 different publishers. Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that Naguib Mahfouz 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 Naguib Mahfouz copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.
- Palace Walk — 1956 · Maktabat Misr, CairoCENSUS CORRECTED. The Arabic true first is Bayn al-Qasrayn, Maktabat Misr, Cairo, 1956. The first English-language edition is Palace Walk, translated by William M. Hutchins and Olive E. Kenny, published by The American University in Cairo (AUC) Press, Cairo, in 1989 — which PRECEDES the Doubleday, New York edition of 1990; the census's 'first English Doubleday 1990' is wrong. AUC Press holds world English rights…. Arabic original: Maktabat Misr, Cairo, 1956. First English: AUC Press, Cairo, 1989 (Hutchins & Kenny), preceding Doubleday, New York, 1990 — the Egyptian edition, not the US edition, is the true first in English. Both the AUC Cairo 1989 and the Doubleday 1990 (first American) are collected. This is the first volume of the Cairo Trilogy and the post-Nobel collectible. The Doubleday 1990 is a first American but a reprint relative to the AUC 1989 first; Anchor/Doubleday paperbacks (from 1991), the Everyman's Library issue, and the Knopf one-volume The Cairo Trilogy (2001) are all later. Do not treat the widely held Doubleday hardcover as the first English edition.
- Midaq Alley (Zuqaq al-Midaq) — 1966 · KhayatsFirst English edition, translated by Trevor Le Gassick, published by Khayats, Beirut, 1966, a scarce Lebanese-press issue of roughly 319 pages, not Heinemann. Heinemann Educational, London, issued a corrected (revised) edition in 1975. The Khayats 1966 is the genuine first English appearance. True first English edition is Khayats, Beirut, 1966; the commonly seen Heinemann 1975 is a later revised first-thus. The Arabic original was published in 1947. Heinemann 1975 (corrected edition), Anchor/Doubleday US, and AUC Press editions are later or revised. Do not cite Heinemann as the first English publisher.
- Miramar — 1978 · HeinemannFirst English edition, 1978, translated by Fatma Moussa-Mahmoud, edited and revised by Maged el Kommos and John Rodenbeck, with an introduction by John Fowles. Issued as Heinemann African Writers Series number 197 (wrappers carry the AWS series number on the spine); the American University in Cairo Press issued the parallel hardcover. The Arabic original appeared in 1967. The 1978 Heinemann African Writers Series / AUC Press appearance is the first English edition. Later Doubleday/Anchor and other paperback issues are reprints. Doubleday US and later paperbacks are reprints. The AWS series number on the spine is a series identifier, not a reprint indicator.
- The Thief and the Dogs (al-Liss wa al-Kilab) — 1984 · American University in Cairo PressFirst English edition, translated by Trevor Le Gassick and M. M. Badawi, revised by John Rodenbeck, American University in Cairo Press, Cairo, 1984. AUC imprint. Preceded the Anchor/Doubleday US trade edition of 1989. AUC Press, Cairo, 1984 is the first English edition; Doubleday/Anchor US 1989, after the Nobel, is a later first-thus. The Arabic original was published in 1961. Anchor/Doubleday US 1989 and later paperbacks are reprints. Many Mahfouz firsts in English originate from AUC Press rather than US or UK trade houses.
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