# Is "Bend Sinister" by Vladimir Nabokov a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Bend Sinister by Vladimir Nabokov (Henry Holt and Company, 1947) is identified by: True first published by Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1947, with the first-printing statement on the copyright page — from 1945 Holt placed a first-edition/first-printing statement, and the absence of any later-printing notice confirms the first. US Holt 1947 is the true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- True first published by Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1947, with the first-printing statement on the copyright page — from 1945 Holt placed a first-edition/first-printing statement, and the absence of any later-printing notice confirms the first
- Bound in black cloth, the spine lettered in gilt, in a pictorial dust jacket; a priced jacket with the price present at the front flap is the point (beware price-clipped and later-supplied jackets)
- Second novel Nabokov wrote in English and the first he wrote in America
- Publisher imprint reads Henry Holt and Company
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Vladimir Nabokov |
| Publisher | Henry Holt and Company |
| Year | 1947 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | True first published by Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1947, with the first-printing statement on the copyright page — from 1945 Holt… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
True first published by Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1947, with the first-printing statement on the copyright page — from 1945 Holt placed a first-edition/first-printing statement, and the absence of any later-printing notice confirms the first. Bound in black cloth, the spine lettered in gilt, in a pictorial dust jacket; a priced jacket with the price present at the front flap is the point (beware price-clipped and later-supplied jackets). Second novel Nabokov wrote in English and the first he wrote in America.

## Is this the true first?
US Holt 1947 is the true first. The first British edition did not appear until Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 1960 (in the wake of Lolita), so US precedence is clear. Do not confuse 'first novel written in America' (Bend Sinister) with his first English-language novel overall, The Real Life of Sebastian Knight (New Directions, 1941).

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue documented for the 1947 Holt first. The 1960 Weidenfeld (UK) and later Time Reading / McGraw-Hill / Penguin issues are reprints or 'first thus.'

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Bend Sinister* by Vladimir Nabokov a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/bend-sinister
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.