Is My Huis clos (No Exit) a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First book edition and first appearance under the definitive title: 'Huis clos, piece en un acte, par Jean-Paul Sartre', [Paris], Gallimard (NRF), [1945]. Library of Congress collation: 5 preliminary leaves, pp
• 13-122, [1] p., 2 leaves, 19 cm; issued broche (paperbound) at roughly 12.5 x 19 cm in NRF wrappers
• The single play only — a volume pairing it with 'Les Mouches' is a later Gallimard collected issue, not the original
• The limitation is the operative point: 24 numbered copies on Madagascar (the tirage de tete) and 2,250 numbered copies on chataignier, the chataignier being the only printing after the Madagascar — no other large-paper state is recorded, so the justification leaf and its number are what identify the original tirage
• Trade listings date the acheve d'imprimer 19 March 1945
• No printing statement or number line is used

How to confirm the first-printing statement

Publishers stated first printings differently by era. The decisive tells are a printed “First Edition/First Printing” statement, a number line whose lowest number is 1 (Random House ends at 2), or a dated first printing with no later printings listed. Paste your copyright page into the number-line decoder.

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Confirm the first-edition statement — look for “First Edition,” “First Printing,” or the publisher’s equivalent wording.
3. Read the number line — the lowest number is the printing. A line including 1 is a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2). Paste it into the decoder.
4. Verify this is the American true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
5. Rule out a book-club edition — a blind-stamp on the rear board or a jacket with no printed price marks a book-club copy.
6. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

The dust jacket

For a collectible first edition the dust jacket matters as much as the book. Confirm the jacket is present and unclipped — the printed price should still be at the corner of the flap (a clipped corner or a price-less flap can indicate a book-club issue). First-state jackets can differ from later ones in the cover art, blurbs, or review quotations; where a specific first-state jacket point is known for this title it is noted above.

Binding & format

Where multiple bindings exist, the hardcover trade issue is usually (but not always) the precedence copy — confirm against the points above. Later printings often show cheaper cloth, thinner boards, or simplified spine stamping. A simultaneous signed or limited issue, when one exists, is a distinct state from the trade first.

Is this the true first?

The French original (Gallimard, Paris, 1945) has precedence over all translations; the census claim is correct on the original. But the census note that the first English-language book appearance is Knopf's 'No Exit and The Flies' (1947) is WRONG — it names the first American edition, not the first English one. The first English-language book appearance is Hamish Hamilton, London, 1946: 'The Flies and In Camera', translated by Stuart Gilbert, in which Huis clos appears under the British title 'In Camera'. Knopf (New York, 1947) followed with the same Gilbert translation as 'No Exit (Huis Clos)... and The Flies'; it is a stated first American edition, and its own copyright page records the prior 1946 Hamish Hamilton British publication — which is how the precedence can be checked in the book itself. Both English editions are collected, so name both: Hamish Hamilton 1946 (London, first in English, as 'In Camera') and Knopf 1947 (New York, first American, as 'No Exit').

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue is documented for the Gallimard original. The traps are format-based rather than club-based: later Gallimard printings and the Collection Blanche / Folio reissues carry no justification of tirage, so a copy without a limitation leaf and number is not from the original 1945 printing. Gallimard reissues from 1947 onward, including volumes pairing Huis clos with Les Mouches, are later. Neither the Hamish Hamilton 1946 nor the Knopf 1947 is a printing of the French original — they are separate translated editions. And 'Les Autres' in L'Arbalete no. 8 (1944) is a review issue, not a book edition.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Huis clos (No Exit) a first edition?

A first edition of Huis clos (No Exit) by Jean-Paul Sartre (Gallimard, Paris) is identified by: First book edition and first appearance under the definitive title: 'Huis clos, piece en un acte, par Jean-Paul Sartre', [Paris], Gallimard (NRF), [1945].

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A number line whose lowest number is 1 marks a first printing (Random House ends at 2). The French original (Gallimard, Paris, 1945) has precedence over all translations; the census claim is correct on the original.

Is the book-club edition the same as the first?

No book-club issue is documented for the Gallimard original. The traps are format-based rather than club-based: later Gallimard printings and the Collection Blanche / Folio reissues carry no justification of tirage, so a copy without a limitation leaf and number is not from the original 1945 printing. Gallimard reissues from 1947 onward, including volumes pairing Huis clos with Les Mouches, are later. Neither the Hamish Hamilton 1946 nor the Knopf 1947 is a printing of the French original — they

I have a first edition of Huis clos (No Exit) — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap — an unclipped, priced jacket matters. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and use the free First Edition Checker to decode the printing. To sell, the author’s collecting guide covers the market. And if you are clearing books in the Albuquerque area, the New Mexico Literacy Project offers free pickup, any condition, and makes sure collectible copies are identified rather than discarded.

Glossary

First edition

Every copy printed from the first setting of type. Collectors usually want the first edition, first printing (the true first).

First printing / impression

A single press run from that setting. The first printing is the earliest and most desirable; later printings are still the first edition but not the true first.

Number line (printer's key)

A row of numbers on the copyright page (e.g. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1). The lowest number present is the printing — a line including 1 marks a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2).

Points of issue

Specific physical details — a stated edition, a number line, a typo, a jacket state — that identify the true first printing.

Book-club edition (BCE)

A reprint made for a book club. Tells include a blind-stamped dot or square on the rear board and a dust jacket with no printed price. Not the true first.

First thus

The first appearance of a particular version (first paperback, first illustrated, first U.S. printing) — a first of that kind, not the first edition of the work.