# Is "Circe" by Madeline Miller a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Circe by Madeline Miller (Little, Brown and Company, 2018) is identified by: True first is Little, Brown and Company, New York, 10 April 2018 (ISBN 9780316556347). US precedes — the reverse of The Song of Achilles, which is exactly the trap on this author.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- True first is Little, Brown and Company, New York, 10 April 2018 (ISBN 9780316556347)
- The copyright page carries the Hachette-style dated statement reported as "First Edition, April 2018" together with a complete number line ending in 1 ("10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1") — the number line to 1 is the decisive test and is independently confirmed by dealers; later printings are catalogued off the number line (the printed pricet-printing copies are in the trade)
- Binding is black boards with gilt lettering to the spine; endpapers are patterned in orange and white with an island map; the jacket is black with a copper illustration of a woman's face
- Jacket should be present and unclipped with the price present at the flap
- The first UK edition is Bloomsbury, London, 2018 (ISBN 9781408890080); a Bloomsbury "Exclusive Signed First Edition" issue exists, hand-numbered within a limitation of 250 and embossed at the title page
- Publisher imprint reads Little, Brown and Company
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Madeline Miller |
| Publisher | Little, Brown and Company |
| Year | 2018 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | True first is Little, Brown and Company, New York, 10 April 2018 (ISBN 9780316556347) |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
True first is Little, Brown and Company, New York, 10 April 2018 (ISBN 9780316556347). The copyright page carries the Hachette-style dated statement reported as "First Edition, April 2018" together with a complete number line ending in 1 ("10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1") — the number line to 1 is the decisive test and is independently confirmed by dealers; later printings are catalogued off the number line (the printed pricet-printing copies are in the trade). Binding is black boards with gilt lettering to the spine; endpapers are patterned in orange and white with an island map; the jacket is black with a copper illustration of a woman's face. Jacket should be present and unclipped with the price present at the flap. The first UK edition is Bloomsbury, London, 2018 (ISBN 9781408890080); a Bloomsbury "Exclusive Signed First Edition" issue exists, hand-numbered within a limitation of 250 and embossed at the title page.

## Is this the true first?
US precedes — the reverse of The Song of Achilles, which is exactly the trap on this author. Little, Brown (US) published on 10 April 2018, confirmed by both the author's own site and the standard reference record; Bloomsbury issued the UK edition afterwards. Both editions are collected and both should be named. One caveat, stated plainly: sources disagree on the exact UK date — the reference record and UK trade listings give 19 April 2018, while Miller's own site announced "May 3rd in the UK." The discrepancy does not disturb precedence; on every source consulted the US edition precedes the UK by weeks. The 2025 Folio Society illustrated edition (Julie Dillon, slipcased, gilt top edge) is "first thus" only.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition documented in the dealer census consulted. Reprint tells are the copyright page number line and the loss of the dated "First Edition, April 2018" statement. The main confusion sources are retailer and signed-limitation variants — the Bloomsbury numbered signed issue of 250 and the later Folio Society edition — rather than club issues.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Circe* by Madeline Miller a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/circe
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.