# Is "Ellison Wonderland" by Harlan Ellison a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Ellison Wonderland by Harlan Ellison (Paperback Library, 1962) is identified by: Paperback Library paperback original, catalog number 52-149, first printing dated June 1962, 191 pages in pictorial wraps with cover art by Victor Kalin, the printed price on the cover. The US Paperback Library paperback original (52-149, June 1962) is the true first; no prior hardcover edition preceded it.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Paperback Library paperback original, catalog number 52-149, first printing dated June 1962, 191 pages in pictorial wraps with cover art by Victor Kalin, the printed price on the cover
- Collects sixteen mostly-fantasy stories: Commuter's Problem
- Do-It-Yourself
- The Silver Corridor
- All the Sounds of Fear
- Gnomebody
- Publisher imprint reads Paperback Library

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Harlan Ellison |
| Publisher | Paperback Library |
| Year | 1962 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Paperback Library paperback original, catalog number 52-149, first printing dated June 1962, 191 pages in pictorial wraps with cover art by… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Paperback Library paperback original, catalog number 52-149, first printing dated June 1962, 191 pages in pictorial wraps with cover art by Victor Kalin, the printed price on the cover. Collects sixteen mostly-fantasy stories: Commuter's Problem; Do-It-Yourself; The Silver Corridor; All the Sounds of Fear; Gnomebody; The Sky Is Burning; Mealtime; The Very Last Day of a Good Woman; Battlefield; Deal from the Bottom; The Wind Beyond the Mountains; The Forces That Crush; Nothing for My Noon Meal; Hadj; Rain, Rain, Go Away; and In Lonely Lands.

## Is this the true first?
The US Paperback Library paperback original (52-149, June 1962) is the true first; no prior hardcover edition preceded it.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book club edition; a mass-market paperback original only. Later reissues carry different catalog numbers and cover art and are readily distinguished from the June 1962 first printing.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Ellison Wonderland* by Harlan Ellison a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/ellison-wonderland
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.