# Is "Planet of the Apes (La Planète des singes)" by Pierre Boulle a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Planet of the Apes (La Planète des singes) by Pierre Boulle (Julliard, 1963) is identified by: The true first is the French-language trade edition published by René Julliard, Paris, released 10 January 1963. The French Julliard 1963 edition is the true first; the census claim is correct, but the title trap is three-way and the US precedes the UK.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The true first is the French-language trade edition published by René Julliard, Paris, released 10 January 1963
- It is a square 12mo (approx
- 200 x 148 mm), 272 pp, issued in original printed wrappers — a French trade issue, so there is no dust jacket and a copy 'lacking a jacket' is complete
- The publisher's price is present on the rear wrapper
- The first edition is established by the achevé d'imprimer dated January 1963 and by the absence of any later impression or reprint statement
- The only grand papier (large paper) issue is 50 numbered copies on alfa d'Avignon paper, plus a small number of author's copies; every other first-edition copy is the ordinary wrappered trade issue
- Publisher imprint reads Julliard

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Pierre Boulle |
| Publisher | Julliard |
| Year | 1963 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The true first is the French-language trade edition published by René Julliard, Paris, released 10 January 1963 |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
The true first is the French-language trade edition published by René Julliard, Paris, released 10 January 1963. It is a square 12mo (approx. 200 x 148 mm), 272 pp, issued in original printed wrappers — a French trade issue, so there is no dust jacket and a copy 'lacking a jacket' is complete. The publisher's price is present on the rear wrapper. The first edition is established by the achevé d'imprimer dated January 1963 and by the absence of any later impression or reprint statement. The only grand papier (large paper) issue is 50 numbered copies on alfa d'Avignon paper, plus a small number of author's copies; every other first-edition copy is the ordinary wrappered trade issue.

## Is this the true first?
The French Julliard 1963 edition is the true first; the census claim is correct, but the title trap is three-way and the US precedes the UK. First edition in English and first US: Planet of the Apes, The Vanguard Press, New York, June 1963, translated by Xan Fielding — black quarter cloth over grey paper boards, orange lettering to the spine, circles to the front board, in a priced jacket (price present at the flap). First UK: Monkey Planet, Secker & Warburg, London, January 1964, same Fielding translation, 223 pp, jacket designed by Margaret Eastoe, in a priced jacket (price present at the flap); 'singes' carries both 'monkeys' and 'apes' in French, which is why the two English titles diverge. Secker & Warburg's August 1973 reissue retitled Planet of the Apes to match the film is a 'first thus', not a first edition, and is the commonest misattribution for this book.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The decisive trap is the Cercle du Nouveau Livre issue (Julliard / Le Cercle du Nouveau Livre, 1963): a subscribers' club printing of 10,000 copies in publisher's green cloth cased binding with blind-stamped decoration. Its imprint is dated 8 January 1963 — two days EARLIER than the trade edition — but Camille Sourget records that it was, by arrangement, distributed only after the trade issue expressly so that the trade edition would have the privilege of being first. The earlier printed date therefore does not give it precedence: it is a club printing, not the first edition. The tell is format: green cloth casebound = club; original printed wrappers = trade first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Planet of the Apes (La Planète des singes)* by Pierre Boulle a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/planet-of-the-apes-la-plan-te-des-singes
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.