# Is "Sappho" by Lawrence Durrell a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Sappho by Lawrence Durrell (Faber & Faber, 1950) is identified by: Faber and Faber, London, 1950. UK Faber and Faber, London, 1950 is the true first; the first American edition was published by E.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Faber and Faber, London, 1950
- First edition, first printing of the verse play (full title 'Sappho: A Play in Verse'), in grey cloth with gilt spine lettering, octavo, 187 pages
- Issued in the mauve pictorial dust jacket which carries the original printed price on the front flap (present rather than clipped)
- Recorded in the Durrell bibliography as Stone B.16.A
- Publisher imprint reads Faber & Faber
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Lawrence Durrell |
| Publisher | Faber & Faber |
| Year | 1950 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Faber and Faber, London, 1950 |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Faber and Faber, London, 1950. First edition, first printing of the verse play (full title 'Sappho: A Play in Verse'), in grey cloth with gilt spine lettering, octavo, 187 pages. Issued in the mauve pictorial dust jacket which carries the original printed price on the front flap (present rather than clipped). Recorded in the Durrell bibliography as Stone B.16.A.

## Is this the true first?
UK Faber and Faber, London, 1950 is the true first; the first American edition was published by E. P. Dutton in 1958.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue; identification rests on the Faber grey-cloth binding and the priced mauve first-issue jacket, distinguishing the 1950 Faber first from the later 1958 Dutton American edition.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Sappho* by Lawrence Durrell a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/sappho
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.