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First-Edition Identification · C.S. Lewis

Is My Christian Behaviour a First Edition?

Geoffrey Bles / The Centenary Press, 1943

The points of issue

First UK edition 1943, Geoffrey Bles: The Centenary Press, London; orange cloth lettered in black, 64 pages, dust jacket; first impression dated March 1943 with no reprint statement (later Bles impressions list their printing dates); later folded into Mere Christianity.

Decode the printer’s key: paste the number line into the decoder.

Is this the true first?

Conventionally collected with the UK Bles edition as the first, but the US Macmillan edition (70 pages, teal cloth) also appeared in 1943 and at least one specialist bibliography records the Macmillan issue earlier that year, so UK versus US precedence is not firmly settled.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Superseded by Mere Christianity (1952); Macmillan reprinted its edition repeatedly through 1950 and reprints are identified.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Christian Behaviour a first edition?

Look for these first-edition points: First UK edition 1943, Geoffrey Bles: The Centenary Press, London; orange cloth lettered in black, 64 pages, dust jacket; first impression dated March 1943 with no reprint statement (later Bles impressions list their printing dates); later folded into Mere Christianity.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page for the publisher's first-printing convention and confirm the points above. Conventionally collected with the UK Bles edition as the first, but the US Macmillan edition (70 pages, teal cloth) also appeared in 1943 and at least one specialist bibliography records the Macmillan issue earlier that year, so UK versus US precedence is not firmly settled.

Is the book-club edition the same as the first?

Superseded by Mere Christianity (1952); Macmillan reprinted its edition repeatedly through 1950 and reprints are identified.

I have a first edition of Christian Behaviour — what should I do?

If you're clearing books, New Mexico Literacy Project offers free pickup in Albuquerque, any condition, and makes sure collectible copies aren't lost. To sell, see the author's collecting guide. Either way, nothing valuable ends up in a landfill.

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