# Is "Murder Must Advertise" by Dorothy L. Sayers a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L. Sayers (Victor Gollancz, 1933) is identified by: First edition published by Victor Gollancz, London, February 1933, a Lord Peter Wimsey novel of 352 pages. The UK Gollancz edition (February 1933) is the true first, preceding the US Harcourt, Brace edition of the same year.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition published by Victor Gollancz, London, February 1933, a Lord Peter Wimsey novel of 352 pages
- Bound in Gollancz's standard black cloth lettered in orange on the spine, issued in the publisher's characteristic typographic yellow dust jacket printed in black and red (no pictorial art)
- The jacket should carry the printed original price
- The US first edition was published by Harcourt, Brace, New York, also 1933
- Publisher imprint reads Victor Gollancz
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Dorothy L. Sayers |
| Publisher | Victor Gollancz |
| Year | 1933 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition published by Victor Gollancz, London, February 1933, a Lord Peter Wimsey… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First edition published by Victor Gollancz, London, February 1933, a Lord Peter Wimsey novel of 352 pages. Bound in Gollancz's standard black cloth lettered in orange on the spine, issued in the publisher's characteristic typographic yellow dust jacket printed in black and red (no pictorial art). The jacket should carry the printed original price. The US first edition was published by Harcourt, Brace, New York, also 1933.

## Is this the true first?
The UK Gollancz edition (February 1933) is the true first, preceding the US Harcourt, Brace edition of the same year.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
A second Gollancz impression appeared in June 1933 and the first cheap edition in January 1934; the first impression carries no later-impression statement, and these and other reprints follow the true first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Murder Must Advertise* by Dorothy L. Sayers a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/murder-must-advertise
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-03.