# Is "Man and Superman: A Comedy and a Philosophy" by George Bernard Shaw a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Man and Superman: A Comedy and a Philosophy by George Bernard Shaw (Archibald Constable & Co., Westminster, 1903) is identified by: First printing carries no printing or issue statement on the title-page verso. The London/Westminster edition (Archibald Constable & Co., 1903) is the true first; both editions are collected.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First printing carries no printing or issue statement on the title-page verso
- Copies bearing a "thousand" statement on the title-page verso (e.g. "Fifth Thousand") are later printings within the same 1903 setting, and that statement is the single most reliable tell for separating a first printing from the reprints Constable ran through the year
- Collation is xxxvii, 244 pp., issued in publisher's green (often described as olive-green) cloth, spine lettered in gilt, top edge gilt
- A publisher's catalogue of works by the same author is bound in at the rear, but its extent varies between copies (4 pp. in some, 16 pp. in others) and dealer descriptions do not establish a proven priority between them, so the catalogue should not be relied on as an issue point
- Published August 1903
- Publisher imprint reads Archibald Constable & Co., Westminster
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | George Bernard Shaw |
| Publisher | Archibald Constable & Co., Westminster |
| Year | 1903 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First printing carries no printing or issue statement on the title-page verso |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First printing carries no printing or issue statement on the title-page verso. Copies bearing a "thousand" statement on the title-page verso (e.g. "Fifth Thousand") are later printings within the same 1903 setting, and that statement is the single most reliable tell for separating a first printing from the reprints Constable ran through the year. Collation is xxxvii, 244 pp., issued in publisher's green (often described as olive-green) cloth, spine lettered in gilt, top edge gilt. A publisher's catalogue of works by the same author is bound in at the rear, but its extent varies between copies (4 pp. in some, 16 pp. in others) and dealer descriptions do not establish a proven priority between them, so the catalogue should not be relied on as an issue point. Published August 1903.

## Is this the true first?
The London/Westminster edition (Archibald Constable & Co., 1903) is the true first; both editions are collected. The first American edition was published by Brentano's, New York, in May 1904 and follows the English edition by roughly nine months, so no US precedence trap exists here — the census claim is correct as stated. Later Constable collected-set appearances (Standard Edition and subsequent series) are first-thus reprints, not the first edition.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue documented for the 1903 edition. Reprint tells: any "thousand" statement on the title-page verso; Brentano's New York printings of 1904 and later; and appearances within Constable's collected/Standard Edition sets, all of which post-date the first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Man and Superman: A Comedy and a Philosophy* by George Bernard Shaw a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/man-and-superman-a-comedy-and-a-philosophy
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.