# Is "Life, the Universe and Everything" by Douglas Adams a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Life, the Universe and Everything by Douglas Adams (Pan Books, 1982) is identified by: The true first is the Pan Books paperback original, London, 1982 — a "Pan original" with the copyright page stating first publication in 1982 by Pan Books, ISBN 0-330-26738-8, and the publisher's price printed on the rear wrap. The census claim that the US Harmony hardcover is the first hardcover is WRONG and has been corrected.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The true first is the Pan Books paperback original, London, 1982 — a "Pan original" with the copyright page stating first publication in 1982 by Pan Books, ISBN 0-330-26738-8, and the publisher's price printed on the rear wrap
- The Arthur Barker (London) hardcover of the same year is the first hardcover edition, in publisher's blue cloth with silver titling to the spine and the Daniel Rainey illustrated dustwrapper
- Caution on the Barker jacket: it exists in both a priced state and an unpriced export state (the export state is also recorded without the publisher's address or ISBN on the rear flap), so a jacket without a price at the flap is not by itself evidence of a later issue or a clipped copy
- The Harmony Books (New York) hardcover, also 1982, is the first American edition
- Points beyond the Pan copyright-page statement are thin in the dealer record; no number-line point for the Pan issue was corroborated, and the Harmony number line was not confirmed against two sources, so it is not asserted here
- Publisher imprint reads Pan Books
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Douglas Adams |
| Publisher | Pan Books |
| Year | 1982 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The true first is the Pan Books paperback original, London, 1982 — a "Pan original" with the copyright page stating first publication in… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
The true first is the Pan Books paperback original, London, 1982 — a "Pan original" with the copyright page stating first publication in 1982 by Pan Books, ISBN 0-330-26738-8, and the publisher's price printed on the rear wrap. The Arthur Barker (London) hardcover of the same year is the first hardcover edition, in publisher's blue cloth with silver titling to the spine and the Daniel Rainey illustrated dustwrapper. Caution on the Barker jacket: it exists in both a priced state and an unpriced export state (the export state is also recorded without the publisher's address or ISBN on the rear flap), so a jacket without a price at the flap is not by itself evidence of a later issue or a clipped copy. The Harmony Books (New York) hardcover, also 1982, is the first American edition. Points beyond the Pan copyright-page statement are thin in the dealer record; no number-line point for the Pan issue was corroborated, and the Harmony number line was not confirmed against two sources, so it is not asserted here.

## Is this the true first?
The census claim that the US Harmony hardcover is the first hardcover is WRONG and has been corrected. Pan Books, London, 1982 is the true first edition (paperback original), and Lucius Books (ABA/ILAB) catalogues the Arthur Barker, London, 1982 hardcover explicitly as "First hardcover edition, first printing," noting the book was "first published as a paperback original by Pan Books earlier the same year." Harmony Books, New York, 1982 is the first US edition and the first US hardcover only. Three editions are collected and should be named separately: Pan (true first), Arthur Barker (first hardcover), Harmony (first American). Treating the Harmony or Barker hardcover as "the first edition" is the standard first-thus trap on this title.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue is documented for the 1982 Pan, Arthur Barker, or Harmony printings in the sources consulted. Later Pan impressions are distinguished by added impression statements on the copyright page; the Pan original's statement records 1982 first publication only.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Life, the Universe and Everything* by Douglas Adams a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/life-the-universe-and-everything
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.