# Is "R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots)" by Karel Čapek a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) by Karel Čapek (Aventinum, 1920) is identified by: The true first is the Czech-language printing issued by Aventinum in Prague in 1920, ahead of the play's Prague stage premiere in early 1921. The Czech Aventinum 1920 printing is the true first and is the book that introduced the word 'robot'.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The true first is the Czech-language printing issued by Aventinum in Prague in 1920, ahead of the play's Prague stage premiere in early 1921
- It is an octavo (approx
- 222 x 150 mm) in original decorated lavender wrappers printed in brown and black, with all edges untrimmed
- Two independent ABAA dealer descriptions agree on a 100-page collation — recorded as [6], 7-96, [97], [98 blank], [99 colophon], [100 blank], and equivalently as [1-7] 8-96 [97-100] — and on the unusual issue state: the gatherings were inserted loose and unsewn, with only the first and final leaves glued to the wrappers
- The colophon states a printing of 2,000 copies
- Copies are routinely found with restoration to the spine and wrapper edges, a consequence of that fragile unsewn construction
- Publisher imprint reads Aventinum

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Karel Čapek |
| Publisher | Aventinum |
| Year | 1920 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The true first is the Czech-language printing issued by Aventinum in Prague in 1920, ahead of the play's Prague stage premiere in early 1921 |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
The true first is the Czech-language printing issued by Aventinum in Prague in 1920, ahead of the play's Prague stage premiere in early 1921. It is an octavo (approx. 222 x 150 mm) in original decorated lavender wrappers printed in brown and black, with all edges untrimmed. Two independent ABAA dealer descriptions agree on a 100-page collation — recorded as [6], 7-96, [97], [98 blank], [99 colophon], [100 blank], and equivalently as [1-7] 8-96 [97-100] — and on the unusual issue state: the gatherings were inserted loose and unsewn, with only the first and final leaves glued to the wrappers. The colophon states a printing of 2,000 copies. Copies are routinely found with restoration to the spine and wrapper edges, a consequence of that fragile unsewn construction.

## Is this the true first?
The Czech Aventinum 1920 printing is the true first and is the book that introduced the word 'robot'. The first edition in English is Paul Selver's translation, published in 1923 in two distinct and textually different forms, both of which are collected: Oxford University Press (Humphrey Milford), London — Nigel Playfair's stage adaptation, small octavo in original printed black wrappers, pp. [1-5] 6-102 [103 ads] [104 blank]; and Doubleday, Page, Garden City, New York — the Theatre Guild version, reflecting the alterations made for the American production that opened at the Garrick Theatre in October 1922, with four illustrations from production photographs. The sources consulted do not establish which of the two appeared first within 1923, so neither should be described as 'the' first English edition without qualification; name the publisher.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The principal trap is internal to Aventinum: a revised version was issued in 1921, and it is a different text from the 1920 first — only the 1920 printing is the first edition. Later Oxford and Doubleday printings, and the many subsequent acting editions and translations, are reprints or 'first thus'. No book-club issue of the 1920 Czech printing was documented in the sources consulted.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots)* by Karel Čapek a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/rur-rossums-universal-robots
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.