# Is "Elric of Melniboné" by Michael Moorcock a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Elric of Melniboné by Michael Moorcock (Hutchinson & Co., 1972) is identified by: First edition: London, Hutchinson & Co., published 4 September 1972; 191 pp., blue cloth, ISBN 0-09-112100-0, issued in a dust wrapper with the price present at the flap. UK precedes and is the true first: Hutchinson (London), 1972 — the first Elric story published as a novel in book form.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition: London, Hutchinson & Co., published 4 September 1972
- 191 pp., blue cloth, ISBN 0-09-112100-0, issued in a dust wrapper with the price present at the flap
- Interior illustrations are by James Cawthorn and the jacket artwork is by Laurence Cutting — a wrapper carrying Michael Whelan or Robert Gould art is by definition a later American issue, never the first
- The copyright page shows the Hutchinson imprint with the 1972 date and no number line or later-printing statement, so the imprint, date and Cutting jacket carry the identification
- No first-state text error is documented in the sources consulted
- Publisher imprint reads Hutchinson & Co.
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Michael Moorcock |
| Publisher | Hutchinson & Co. |
| Year | 1972 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition: London, Hutchinson & Co., published 4 September 1972 |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First edition: London, Hutchinson & Co., published 4 September 1972; 191 pp., blue cloth, ISBN 0-09-112100-0, issued in a dust wrapper with the price present at the flap. Interior illustrations are by James Cawthorn and the jacket artwork is by Laurence Cutting — a wrapper carrying Michael Whelan or Robert Gould art is by definition a later American issue, never the first. The copyright page shows the Hutchinson imprint with the 1972 date and no number line or later-printing statement, so the imprint, date and Cutting jacket carry the identification. No first-state text error is documented in the sources consulted.

## Is this the true first?
UK precedes and is the true first: Hutchinson (London), 1972 — the first Elric story published as a novel in book form. The first American appearance is a corrupt one: the Lancer paperback of 1972 retitled The Dreaming City, re-edited without Moorcock's permission and retitled without his approval, as DAW's own subsequent note records — a variant text, not an authorized first. Two later US editions are both collected and both are "first thus": DAW (New York, October 1976, 160 pp., Michael Whelan cover) is the first US printing of the authorized Hutchinson text, and Blue Star Publishers (Hartford, CT, 1977) is the first American hardcover — limited to 2,200 copies, red leather-like boards gilt-stamped, inserted colour frontispiece with tissue guard, illustrated by Robert Gould, issued in a slipcase without jacket. Name trap: The Dreaming City is also the title of Moorcock's 1961 Elric novelette in Science Fantasy 47, a different work entirely. Arrow (1973), Berkley, Ace, Grafton and Centipede Press issues are reprints or "first thus."

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club printing of the Hutchinson edition is documented in the sources consulted. The practical reprint tells are imprint and cover art: the Lancer "Dreaming City" wrapper, Whelan art (DAW 1976 onward) or Gould art (Blue Star 1977 and its descendants) each mark a non-first issue. The Blue Star 1977 is a limited edition and reads as important, but it is a "first thus" — first American hardcover and first US printing of the full text in cloth — not the first edition.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Elric of Melniboné* by Michael Moorcock a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/elric-of-melnibon
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.