# Is "Old Angel Midnight" by Jack Kerouac a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Old Angel Midnight by Jack Kerouac (Grey Fox Press, 1993) is identified by: First complete edition (all 67 sections), edited by Donald Allen with prefaces by Ann Charters and Michael McClure. Earlier partial appearances exist and must not be confused with this edition: the first separate printing was the Booklegger/Albion chapbook (1973, first 49 of 67 sections, stapled wrappers), and a further incomplete chapbook came from the Unicorn Bookshop (1976).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First complete edition (all 67 sections), edited by Donald Allen with prefaces by Ann Charters and Michael McClure
- Trade softcover in printed wrappers; first printing precedes the 1995 second printing
- This is the first appearance of the full text, so it is best described as the first complete/first trade edition rather than an unqualified first appearance
- Publisher imprint reads Grey Fox Press
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Jack Kerouac |
| Publisher | Grey Fox Press |
| Year | 1993 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First complete edition (all 67 sections), edited by Donald Allen with prefaces by Ann… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
First complete edition (all 67 sections), edited by Donald Allen with prefaces by Ann Charters and Michael McClure. Trade softcover in printed wrappers; first printing precedes the 1995 second printing. This is the first appearance of the full text, so it is best described as the first complete/first trade edition rather than an unqualified first appearance.

## Is this the true first?
Earlier partial appearances exist and must not be confused with this edition: the first separate printing was the Booklegger/Albion chapbook (1973, first 49 of 67 sections, stapled wrappers), and a further incomplete chapbook came from the Unicorn Bookshop (1976). The 1993 Grey Fox Press printing is the first edition containing the complete 67-section text. The record's reference to a 'UK Booklegger 1976' conflated two different earlier editions.

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

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Old Angel Midnight* by Jack Kerouac a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/old-angel-midnight
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.