# Is "Hothouse" by Brian Aldiss a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Hothouse by Brian Aldiss (Faber & Faber, 1962) is identified by: Faber & Faber, London, 1962, octavo, cloth, in dust jacket. CENSUS CORRECTED.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Faber & Faber, London, 1962, octavo, cloth, in dust jacket
- The first printing is identified by Faber's pre-1968 practice: the copyright page reads 'First published in mcmlxii by Faber and Faber Limited', with the year in Roman numerals and no impression statement beneath; later printings add 'Second impression' and so on
- Jacket should be present and priced (price present at the flap) — price-clipped copies are frequently encountered
- This is the first hardcover edition anywhere and the first appearance of the complete text of the novel
- Publisher imprint reads Faber & Faber
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Brian Aldiss |
| Publisher | Faber & Faber |
| Year | 1962 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Faber & Faber, London, 1962, octavo, cloth, in dust jacket |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
Faber & Faber, London, 1962, octavo, cloth, in dust jacket. The first printing is identified by Faber's pre-1968 practice: the copyright page reads 'First published in mcmlxii by Faber and Faber Limited', with the year in Roman numerals and no impression statement beneath; later printings add 'Second impression' and so on. Jacket should be present and priced (price present at the flap) — price-clipped copies are frequently encountered. This is the first hardcover edition anywhere and the first appearance of the complete text of the novel.

## Is this the true first?
CENSUS CORRECTED. The claim 'UK first' fails on strict chronological precedence. The first book publication of this material is the abridged American paperback original, The Long Afternoon of Earth (Signet / New American Library, New York, 1962): L.W. Currey and John W. Knott, Jr. — both ABAA, and Currey is the standard authority for SF bibliography — independently state that it was 'issued earlier in the U.S. in a shorter version'. The Faber Hothouse (1962) is therefore the first British edition, the first hardcover, and the first complete/unabridged text, but not the first book publication. The full text did not reach the United States until 1976. Both are collected on different grounds: the Signet has chronological precedence, the Faber has textual authority. Separately, the 1962 Hugo for Best Short Fiction attaches to the five Hothouse novelettes as they appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction in 1961, not to either book edition — do not describe either book as 'the Hugo winner'.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The Long Afternoon of Earth is an abridgement, not a reprint of the Faber text, and should never be catalogued as a later printing of Hothouse; US paperbacks reprinting that abridged text through the 1960s and 1970s are reprints of the abridgement. Conversely, US editions from 1976 onward carrying the full text under either title are 'first thus'. No book-club issue of the Faber first was documented in the sources consulted.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Hothouse* by Brian Aldiss a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/hothouse
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.