# Is "Brighton Rock" by Graham Greene a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Brighton Rock by Graham Greene (William Heinemann, 1938) is identified by: Heinemann London 1938. Heinemann London 1938 is the true first; the Viking Press New York 1938 is the first US.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Heinemann London 1938
- The notorious point: a small number of the first edition were bound by error in GREEN cloth (intended for another Heinemann title) rather than the standard red cloth; the green-cloth copies are considered the earliest/most desirable state
- Standard issue is red cloth, gilt spine lettering
- Dust jacket is scarce
- Publisher imprint reads William Heinemann
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Graham Greene |
| Publisher | William Heinemann |
| Year | 1938 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Heinemann London 1938 |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Heinemann London 1938. The notorious point: a small number of the first edition were bound by error in GREEN cloth (intended for another Heinemann title) rather than the standard red cloth; the green-cloth copies are considered the earliest/most desirable state. Standard issue is red cloth, gilt spine lettering. Dust jacket is scarce.

## Is this the true first?
Heinemann London 1938 is the true first; the Viking Press New York 1938 is the first US. The green-cloth misbound copies have precedence as the first state; red cloth is the regular first edition.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The 1947 Viking and later reprints, and the 1970 Collected Edition (also green cloth, but clearly dated/marked), must not be confused with the 1938 misbinding. Any post-1938 date or Collected Edition statement rules it out.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Brighton Rock* by Graham Greene a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/brighton-rock
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.