# Is "Equus" by Peter Shaffer a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Equus by Peter Shaffer (André Deutsch, London, 1973) is identified by: First impression is an octavo in original orange cloth with gilt lettering to the spine, in the photographic dust jacket. UK true first: André Deutsch, London, 1973 — the census claim is confirmed.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First impression is an octavo in original orange cloth with gilt lettering to the spine, in the photographic dust jacket
- André Deutsch house practice is to state "First published 1973 by André Deutsch Limited" on the copyright page and to add an impression line for each subsequent printing — later impressions of 1973 exist and are offered as such (a third impression, still dated 1973, is documented in the trade), so a first impression shows the "First published 1973" line with no added impression statement beneath it
- The same 1973 date on the title page therefore does not by itself establish a first impression, which is the single most common error on this title
- Priced jacket / price present at the flap on unclipped copies
- Dealer listings report the jacket photograph as the Anthony Crickmay image; reported consistently but not independently corroborated in the catalogues consulted
- Publisher imprint reads André Deutsch, London
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Peter Shaffer |
| Publisher | André Deutsch, London |
| Year | 1973 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Poetry |
| Key point | First impression is an octavo in original orange cloth with gilt lettering to the spine, in the photographic dust jacket |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
First impression is an octavo in original orange cloth with gilt lettering to the spine, in the photographic dust jacket. André Deutsch house practice is to state "First published 1973 by André Deutsch Limited" on the copyright page and to add an impression line for each subsequent printing — later impressions of 1973 exist and are offered as such (a third impression, still dated 1973, is documented in the trade), so a first impression shows the "First published 1973" line with no added impression statement beneath it. The same 1973 date on the title page therefore does not by itself establish a first impression, which is the single most common error on this title. Priced jacket / price present at the flap on unclipped copies. Dealer listings report the jacket photograph as the Anthony Crickmay image; reported consistently but not independently corroborated in the catalogues consulted.

## Is this the true first?
UK true first: André Deutsch, London, 1973 — the census claim is confirmed. Equus premiered at the National Theatre (Old Vic) in London in 1973 and the Deutsch hardcover precedes all American issues; it won the 1975 Tony Award only after reaching Broadway. CORRECTION to the census note: the US edition was not a standalone "Equus." The play's first American book appearance is in the combined volume EQUUS AND SHRIVINGS: TWO PLAYS (Atheneum, New York, 1974) — publisher's grey cloth, red endpapers, collating [6], 211, [1] pp., with production notes documenting the first performance of Equus and with Shrivings then still unperformed. Both editions are collected: the Deutsch 1973 as the true first, the Atheneum 1974 as the first American appearance. A standalone Atheneum "Equus" dated 1974 at 99 pp. is encountered as a book club edition rather than a trade first — do not mistake it for an American trade first of the play alone.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
A standalone Atheneum "Equus," New York, 1974, 99 pp. hardcover is catalogued in the trade as a book club edition; the American trade first is the 211-page Equus and Shrivings volume, so a slim 99-page Atheneum Equus should be treated as a club copy pending examination of the board and jacket flap. Specific club tells (blind stamp/deboss, absence of price at the flap, reduced trim) were not itemised by the dealer consulted and are not asserted here. No book-club issue of the Deutsch London edition is documented in the sources reviewed.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Equus* by Peter Shaffer a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/equus
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.