3 Ngugi wa Thiong'o first editions are documented on this shelf, from Petals of Blood (1977) to Wizard of the Crow (Murogi wa Kagogo) (2006) across 3 different publishers. Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that Ngugi wa Thiong'o 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 Ngugi wa Thiong'o copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.
- Petals of Blood — 1977 · HeinemannFirst edition, Heinemann, London, 1977, bylined 'Ngugi wa Thiong'o' (after the author adopted the Gikuyu form of his name). Issued in cloth with dust jacket and also in the African Writers Series. This was the last of Ngugi's novels written originally in English; he turned to writing in Gikuyu thereafter. The London edition precedes the US issue. Heinemann London 1977 is the true first edition. The US edition (E. P. Dutton, 1978) follows. The byline correctly reads 'Ngugi wa Thiong'o'. The Dutton US edition of 1978, the African Writers Series paperback, and all later printings are reprints relative to the 1977 London first.
- Devil on the Cross (Caitaani Mutharaba-Ini) — 1982 · HeinemannFirst English-language edition, Heinemann Educational Books, African Writers Series number 200, London, 1982, translated from the Gikuyu by the author himself. Issued in wrappers bearing the series number. The novel was composed in Gikuyu while the author was imprisoned and is among the first modern novels written in that language. Heinemann London 1982 is the first English-language edition, in the author's own translation. The Gikuyu original, Caitaani Mutharaba-Ini, appeared in 1980. As the English-language first it is a 'first thus' relative to the Gikuyu original. Later Heinemann and Penguin paperbacks are reprints relative to the 1982 first English-language edition.
- Wizard of the Crow (Murogi wa Kagogo) — 2006 · Pantheon BooksFirst English-language edition, 2006, translated from the Gikuyu by the author. The US issue (Pantheon Books, New York) is bound in green cloth with a priced dust jacket and carries a full number line ending in 1; the UK issue (Harvill Secker, London) appeared the same year. Both are 2006 first English-language printings. 2006 is the first English-language edition; the Gikuyu original, Murogi wa Kagogo, appeared in 2004. The US Pantheon and UK Harvill Secker issues are both dated 2006 and precedence between the two is not firmly established, so both are best treated as co-first English-language editions; confirm the imprint and number line on any given copy. Anchor and Vintage paperbacks are reprints relative to the 2006 hardcover first English-language editions.
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