4 Wole Soyinka first editions are documented on this shelf, from The Interpreters (1965) to Ake: The Years of Childhood (1981) across 2 different publishers. Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that Wole Soyinka 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 Wole Soyinka copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.
- The Interpreters — 1965 · Andre DeutschFirst edition, Andre Deutsch, London, 1965, Soyinka's first novel, roughly 254 pages. Bound in orange boards with the spine lettered and ruled in gilt; the dust jacket carries the original the printed price printed price, which should be present. Andre Deutsch London 1965 is the true first edition. The African Writers Series paperback (AWS #76, 1970) is a later first-thus paperback. The AWS paperback (1970) and later printings are reprints. Tells of the reprint: the series number and printed wrappers rather than gilt-lettered orange boards in a priced jacket.
- The Man Died: Prison Notes — 1972 · Rex CollingsFirst edition, Rex Collings, London, 1972. Octavo in publisher's black cloth with the title stamped in gilt to the spine, paginated roughly [10], 11-315, [5] pages; issued in a typographic dust jacket that carries the printed net price, which should be present (unclipped) on a first-state copy. Soyinka's prison memoir of his Nigerian Civil War detention. Rex Collings London 1972 is the true first edition. The first US edition (Harper & Row, New York, 1972) follows. Penguin and later paperbacks are reprints; no notable book-club hardcover.
- Season of Anomy — 1973 · Rex CollingsFirst edition, first impression, Rex Collings, London, 1973; octavo, collating (iv) plus 320 pages. Publisher's black cloth with gilt spine lettering and colored top edge; the first-state binding is known for a production error in which the gilt lettering on the backstrip runs upside down. Issued in the original dust jacket, which should retain the printed price and be unclipped. Soyinka's second (and last) novel. Rex Collings London 1973 is the true first edition. The first US edition (Third Press, 1974) follows. Nelson and later paperbacks are reprints; the inverted-spine gilt binding point and priced Rex Collings jacket distinguish the London first.
- Ake: The Years of Childhood — 1981 · Rex CollingsFirst edition, Rex Collings, London, 1981, issued in boards with dust jacket. Memoir of Soyinka's Yoruba childhood at Ake in western Nigeria before and during the Second World War. The first American edition (Random House, New York, 1982) follows, bound in black cloth over green paper-covered boards with the spine lettered in gilt, in a pictorial dust jacket carrying its printed price on the flap. Rex Collings London 1981 is the true first edition. The first American edition (Random House, ISBN 0394528077) is cataloged by dealers variously as 1981 or 1982; in either case it follows the Rex Collings London first. Vintage/Aventura paperbacks are later reprints.
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