# Is "Autobiography of a Yogi" by Paramahansa Yogananda a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda (Philosophical Library, 1946) is identified by: The true first is the Philosophical Library, New York issue, first printed December 1946: octavo, xvi + 498 pp., frontispiece portrait of the author, roughly forty-nine black-and-white photographs and illustrations, a map of India, and a preface by W. US precedes; US-only for the true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The true first is the Philosophical Library, New York issue, first printed December 1946: octavo, xvi + 498 pp., frontispiece portrait of the author, roughly forty-nine black-and-white photographs and illustrations, a map of India, and a preface by W. Y. Evans-Wentz (LCCN 47000544)
- Dealers describe the binding consistently as publisher's blue cloth (dark blue boards) stamped in gilt on the front board and spine
- Philosophical Library used no printing statement, so identification rests on the 1946 date at the title page together with a copyright page bearing no later-edition notice — the house's own second
- , third/enlarged
- and fourth
- editions each name themselves
- Publisher imprint reads Philosophical Library

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Paramahansa Yogananda |
| Publisher | Philosophical Library |
| Year | 1946 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The true first is the Philosophical Library, New York issue, first printed December 1946: octavo, xvi + 498 pp., frontispiece portrait of… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
The true first is the Philosophical Library, New York issue, first printed December 1946: octavo, xvi + 498 pp., frontispiece portrait of the author, roughly forty-nine black-and-white photographs and illustrations, a map of India, and a preface by W. Y. Evans-Wentz (LCCN 47000544). Dealers describe the binding consistently as publisher's blue cloth (dark blue boards) stamped in gilt on the front board and spine. Philosophical Library used no printing statement, so identification rests on the 1946 date at the title page together with a copyright page bearing no later-edition notice — the house's own second (1949), third/enlarged (1951) and fourth (1952) editions each name themselves. A useful supporting point: the 1946 title page styles the author 'Paramhansa Yogananda' (no second 'a' in the middle), whereas Self-Realization Fellowship printings from 1954 onward style it 'Paramahansa Yogananda'. The jacket is priced at the flap, so unclipped examples retain the price; the census note's description of an 'orange jacket' could not be corroborated by any dealer, auction or bibliographic source consulted and is therefore not repeated as a point.

## Is this the true first?
US precedes; US-only for the true first. Philosophical Library, New York, December 1946 is the true first edition. The first British edition followed from Rider and Company, London, 1949 (403 pp., publisher's blue cloth with gilt lettering, photo frontispiece); it is collected as the first UK appearance but is not the true first. The book was written in English, so no original-language precedence question arises.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition is documented for the 1946 Philosophical Library issue. The reprint traps are the publisher's own later editions (2nd 1949, 3rd enlarged 1951, 4th 1952); the Self-Realization Fellowship line beginning with the fifth edition in 1954, after SRF acquired rights in October 1953, whose text was posthumously edited; the Rider/Ebury-Random House UK line; the Indian Jaico and Yogoda Satsanga printings; and modern reprints marketed as 'The Original 1946 Edition' (e.g. Crystal Clarity, ISBN 1565892127), which reset the 1946 text but are new books, not 1946 sheets.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Autobiography of a Yogi* by Paramahansa Yogananda a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/autobiography-of-a-yogi
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.