# Is "Maurice" by E.M. Forster a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Maurice by E.M. Forster (Edward Arnold, 1971) is identified by: First edition, Edward Arnold, London, 1971 (posthumous; Forster died 1970); xi, [1], 240 pp. Posthumous first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, Edward Arnold, London, 1971 (posthumous
- Forster died 1970); xi, [1], 240 pp
- Bound in black cloth with the spine lettered in gilt and a red top-edge stain, and issued in a black dust jacket with the priced jacket present at the flap (unclipped)
- Cited as Kirkpatrick A39; the red top-stain distinguishes the English issue from the first American, which has a yellow top-edge stain
- Publisher imprint reads Edward Arnold
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | E.M. Forster |
| Publisher | Edward Arnold |
| Year | 1971 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, Edward Arnold, London, 1971 (posthumous |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
First edition, Edward Arnold, London, 1971 (posthumous; Forster died 1970); xi, [1], 240 pp. Bound in black cloth with the spine lettered in gilt and a red top-edge stain, and issued in a black dust jacket with the priced jacket present at the flap (unclipped). Cited as Kirkpatrick A39; the red top-stain distinguishes the English issue from the first American, which has a yellow top-edge stain.

## Is this the true first?
Posthumous first. The English edition, Edward Arnold (London), 1971, is conventionally taken as the true first; the first American edition, W.W. Norton (New York), 1971, followed and is near-simultaneous. Both are collected, and cataloguers differ on the Kirkpatrick sub-letter (A39a vs A39b), but the London Arnold issue holds precedence by convention.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The first American (W.W. Norton, New York, 1971) is distinguished by a yellow top-edge stain and full black cloth, and its jacket flap corner was clipped by the publisher as issued; later Norton printings and paperback issues postdate the 1971 firsts. No priority book-club edition is documented.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Maurice* by E.M. Forster a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/maurice
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.