# Is "Hangman's Holiday" by Dorothy L. Sayers a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Hangman's Holiday by Dorothy L. Sayers (Victor Gollancz, 1933) is identified by: First edition published by Victor Gollancz, London, 1933; a story collection gathering four Lord Peter Wimsey stories and six featuring the wine-and-spirits traveller Montague Egg, plus two other tales. The UK Gollancz 1933 edition is the true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition published by Victor Gollancz, London, 1933; a story collection gathering four Lord Peter Wimsey stories and six featuring the wine-and-spirits traveller Montague Egg, plus two other tales
- Bound in Gollancz's black cloth boards with orange lettering to the spine, and issued in the characteristic yellow Gollancz typographic dust jacket printing the net price to the spine (the printed price should be present on an unrestored jacket)
- Recorded in the Gilbert bibliography as A18, with a first printing of about 3,000 copies
- Publisher imprint reads Victor Gollancz
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Dorothy L. Sayers |
| Publisher | Victor Gollancz |
| Year | 1933 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition published by Victor Gollancz, London, 1933; a story collection gathering… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First edition published by Victor Gollancz, London, 1933; a story collection gathering four Lord Peter Wimsey stories and six featuring the wine-and-spirits traveller Montague Egg, plus two other tales. Bound in Gollancz's black cloth boards with orange lettering to the spine, and issued in the characteristic yellow Gollancz typographic dust jacket printing the net price to the spine (the printed price should be present on an unrestored jacket). Recorded in the Gilbert bibliography as A18, with a first printing of about 3,000 copies.

## Is this the true first?
The UK Gollancz 1933 edition is the true first. A US Harcourt, Brace edition also appeared in 1933 but follows the London printing.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later Gollancz impressions and subsequent reprints follow the first; the black cloth with orange spine lettering and the priced yellow typographic jacket identify the 1933 first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Hangman's Holiday* by Dorothy L. Sayers a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/hangmans-holiday
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-03.