# Is "Lest Darkness Fall" by L. Sprague de Camp a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Lest Darkness Fall by L. Sprague de Camp (Henry Holt and Company, 1941) is identified by: First edition: Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1941 (published 24 February 1941) — de Camp's first book of fiction. US original and the true first edition worldwide; the census claim is correct.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition: Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1941 (published 24 February 1941) — de Camp's first book of fiction
- Identification is by absence of a later-printing note: L. W. Currey's entry records "No statement of printing," and Quill & Brush states that for Henry Holt, "Prior to 1945, first editions can generally be identified by the lack of a later printing statement on the copyright page." The binding is a strong and well-corroborated point: original pictorial black cloth with the front and spine panels stamped in white enamel, top edge stained yellow, and the fore- and bottom edges untrimmed
- Collation per Currey is pp. [i–vi] vii–ix [x–xii] 1–379, [380: blank]. The white enamel stamping flakes and rubs readily, so intact white stamping on both front and spine panels is a condition marker dealers call out specifically; the jacket should be priced at the flap
- Publisher imprint reads Henry Holt and Company
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | L. Sprague de Camp |
| Publisher | Henry Holt and Company |
| Year | 1941 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition: Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1941 (published 24 February 1941) — de Camp's first book of fiction |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
First edition: Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1941 (published 24 February 1941) — de Camp's first book of fiction. Identification is by absence of a later-printing note: L. W. Currey's entry records "No statement of printing," and Quill & Brush states that for Henry Holt, "Prior to 1945, first editions can generally be identified by the lack of a later printing statement on the copyright page." The binding is a strong and well-corroborated point: original pictorial black cloth with the front and spine panels stamped in white enamel, top edge stained yellow, and the fore- and bottom edges untrimmed. Collation per Currey is pp. [i–vi] vii–ix [x–xii] 1–379, [380: blank]. The white enamel stamping flakes and rubs readily, so intact white stamping on both front and spine panels is a condition marker dealers call out specifically; the jacket should be priced at the flap.

## Is this the true first?
US original and the true first edition worldwide; the census claim is correct. It expands the shorter version from Unknown (December 1939), which is a magazine appearance and not a book. The significant trap is the Prime Press (Philadelphia) 1949 edition, which ABAA and other dealers explicitly catalogue as "First Thus" — it is black cloth stamped in gilt and collates 233 pp., quite unlike the Holt sheets, and is a later hardcover reprinting rather than a first edition. Note also that a commonly repeated claim of a 1949 "Galaxy Publishing" reprint does not withstand scrutiny (the Galaxy Novels line did not begin until 1950) and is excluded here.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Any copy bearing the Prime Press imprint (1949) is a reprint, not a first, regardless of how it is described — dealers offering it correctly flag it as "First Thus, First Printing," and that phrase is the tell. The Holt sheets are distinguishable at a glance from all later hardcover issues by the pictorial black cloth stamped in white enamel with yellow-stained top edge and untrimmed fore- and bottom edges. Later Ballantine/Del Rey and other paperback issues carry their own imprints. No contemporaneous book-club issue is documented in the sources consulted.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Lest Darkness Fall* by L. Sprague de Camp a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/lest-darkness-fall
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.