# Is "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead" by Tom Stoppard a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard (Faber and Faber, 1967) is identified by: First edition, Faber and Faber, London, 1967. The Faber 1967 issue is the true first (it precedes the US Grove edition).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, Faber and Faber, London, 1967
- Issued simultaneously in a hardback bound in cloth (small print run) with a dust jacket with its printed price, and in the more common wrappers state with French flaps
- The copyright page carries the Faber 'First published in 1967' statement with no later-impression line
- The cloth hardback in the priced jacket is the preferred and scarcer state
- Publisher imprint reads Faber and Faber
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Tom Stoppard |
| Publisher | Faber and Faber |
| Year | 1967 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, Faber and Faber, London, 1967 |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First edition, Faber and Faber, London, 1967. Issued simultaneously in a hardback bound in cloth (small print run) with a dust jacket with its printed price, and in the more common wrappers state with French flaps. The copyright page carries the Faber 'First published in 1967' statement with no later-impression line. The cloth hardback in the priced jacket is the preferred and scarcer state.

## Is this the true first?
The Faber 1967 issue is the true first (it precedes the US Grove edition). The hardback and the wrappers issue were published together; the hardback is the more desirable state because it is far scarcer, not because of a documented day-by-day priority over the wrappers.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition. The first impression is identified by the Faber 'First published in 1967' statement with no further-impression line. The wrappers issue is a separate, more common state of the same first edition. The US Grove printing is a separate first for the American market.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead* by Tom Stoppard a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/rosencrantz-and-guildenstern-are-dead
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.