# Is "Christian Behaviour" by C.S. Lewis a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Christian Behaviour by C.S. Lewis (Geoffrey Bles / The Centenary Press, 1943) is identified by: 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. 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.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- 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
- Publisher imprint reads Geoffrey Bles / The Centenary Press
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | C.S. Lewis |
| Publisher | Geoffrey Bles / The Centenary Press |
| Year | 1943 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First UK edition 1943, Geoffrey Bles: The Centenary Press, London; orange cloth lettered in black, 64 pages, dust jacket; first impression… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## 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.

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Superseded by Mere Christianity (1952); Macmillan reprinted its edition repeatedly through 1950 and reprints are identified.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Christian Behaviour* by C.S. Lewis a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/christian-behaviour
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.