# Is "Money in the Bank" by P.G. Wodehouse a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Money in the Bank by P.G. Wodehouse (Doubleday Doran, 1942) is identified by: First US edition, Doubleday Doran, New York, published 9 January 1942. US Doubleday Doran is the true first (9 January 1942), preceding the UK Jenkins edition by more than four years.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First US edition, Doubleday Doran, New York, published 9 January 1942
- Bound in brown cloth with the spine titles and the spine and upper-board illustration stamped in black, and with the fore-edge left untrimmed
- The pictorial dust jacket was designed by Donald McKay and should carry its original printed price on the front flap (an unclipped flap is preferred, though a clipped copy remains a first edition)
- The UK Herbert Jenkins edition did not appear until 27 May 1946
- Publisher imprint reads Doubleday Doran
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | P.G. Wodehouse |
| Publisher | Doubleday Doran |
| Year | 1942 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First US edition, Doubleday Doran, New York, published 9 January 1942 |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First US edition, Doubleday Doran, New York, published 9 January 1942. Bound in brown cloth with the spine titles and the spine and upper-board illustration stamped in black, and with the fore-edge left untrimmed. The pictorial dust jacket was designed by Donald McKay and should carry its original printed price on the front flap (an unclipped flap is preferred, though a clipped copy remains a first edition). The UK Herbert Jenkins edition did not appear until 27 May 1946.

## Is this the true first?
US Doubleday Doran is the true first (9 January 1942), preceding the UK Jenkins edition by more than four years. The novel was written while Wodehouse was interned in wartime Germany; UK publication was delayed to 1946 amid the controversy over his wartime broadcasts.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue. Later printings and the 1946 Jenkins UK edition are readily distinguished; a first should show the brown cloth with black stamping, untrimmed fore-edge, and the McKay pictorial jacket.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Money in the Bank* by P.G. Wodehouse a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/money-in-the-bank
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.