# Is "O, How the Wheel Becomes It!" by Anthony Powell a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of O, How the Wheel Becomes It! by Anthony Powell (Heinemann, 1983) is identified by: First printing; short novel, Powell's first fiction after concluding A Dance to the Music of Time. UK Heinemann is the true first (London, 1983); the US Holt, Rinehart and Winston edition followed in 1983.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First printing; short novel, Powell's first fiction after concluding A Dance to the Music of Time
- Bound in the publisher's red cloth with gilt spine lettering, in a pictorial dust jacket after a drawing by Barbara Ker-Seymer
- 144 pages, octavo (roughly 22 cm)
- Publisher imprint reads Heinemann
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Anthony Powell |
| Publisher | Heinemann |
| Year | 1983 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First printing; short novel, Powell's first fiction after concluding A Dance to the Music of Time |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First printing; short novel, Powell's first fiction after concluding A Dance to the Music of Time. Bound in the publisher's red cloth with gilt spine lettering, in a pictorial dust jacket after a drawing by Barbara Ker-Seymer; 144 pages, octavo (roughly 22 cm).

## Is this the true first?
UK Heinemann is the true first (London, 1983); the US Holt, Rinehart and Winston edition followed in 1983.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *O, How the Wheel Becomes It!* by Anthony Powell a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/o-how-the-wheel-becomes-it
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.