# Is "Exiles" by James Joyce a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Exiles by James Joyce (Grant Richards, 1918) is identified by: First edition, 1918, published simultaneously on the same day, 25 May 1918, in London by Grant Richards (Slocum & Cahoon 14) and in New York by B. Simultaneous UK/US first publication on 25 May 1918: Grant Richards (London, S&C 14) and B.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, 1918, published simultaneously on the same day, 25 May 1918, in London by Grant Richards (Slocum & Cahoon 14) and in New York by B. W. Huebsch (Slocum & Cahoon 15)
- The Grant Richards issue is in quarter sea-green cloth over dark (blue-)green boards with printed paper labels to spine and upper board; scarce first-issue jackets carry the “shelf with Ibsen and Hauptmann” blurb
- CORRECTION to census: the two editions were simultaneous same-day publications, not “London precedes by days” — Grant Richards holds only nominal bibliographic priority via Slocum & Cahoon's numbering
- Publisher imprint reads Grant Richards
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | James Joyce |
| Publisher | Grant Richards |
| Year | 1918 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, 1918, published simultaneously on the same day, 25 May 1918, in London by Grant Richards (Slocum & Cahoon 14) and in New… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First edition, 1918, published simultaneously on the same day, 25 May 1918, in London by Grant Richards (Slocum & Cahoon 14) and in New York by B. W. Huebsch (Slocum & Cahoon 15). The Grant Richards issue is in quarter sea-green cloth over dark (blue-)green boards with printed paper labels to spine and upper board; scarce first-issue jackets carry the “shelf with Ibsen and Hauptmann” blurb. CORRECTION to census: the two editions were simultaneous same-day publications, not “London precedes by days” — Grant Richards holds only nominal bibliographic priority via Slocum & Cahoon's numbering.

## Is this the true first?
Simultaneous UK/US first publication on 25 May 1918: Grant Richards (London, S&C 14) and B. W. Huebsch (New York, S&C 15). Both are collected as the true first; Grant Richards is conventionally cited first only by bibliographic sequence, and Bonhams/auction descriptions explicitly call the Huebsch issue “published simultaneously with the English edition.” The census “Grant Richards precedes Huebsch by days” is not supported.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later issues — Jonathan Cape reprints and the 1951 Viking edition that adds Joyce's own notes for the play — are first-thus reprints, not the 1918 first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Exiles* by James Joyce a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/exiles
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.