# Is "Saturday Night and Sunday Morning" by Alan Sillitoe a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Saturday Night and Sunday Morning by Alan Sillitoe (W. H. Allen, 1958) is identified by: First edition, first impression: W. True first is W.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, first impression: W. H. Allen, London, 1958
- Bound in the publisher's red boards (described by dealers as red buckram) with the spine lettered in gilt
- The dust wrapper was designed by Mona Moore and is printed in green, black and red, depicting Arthur Seaton and Doreen; on unclipped copies the price is present at the flap, printed in bold red lettering
- Binding colour, gilt spine lettering and the Mona Moore jacket are each corroborated by two independent PBFA/ABA/ILAB dealer descriptions
- No independent transcription of the copyright-page verso was located in this pass, so none is published here: read the verso and treat any added reprint or impression statement as ruling out a first impression rather than relying on the 1958 title-page year
- Publisher imprint reads W. H. Allen
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Alan Sillitoe |
| Publisher | W. H. Allen |
| Year | 1958 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, first impression: W. H. Allen, London, 1958 |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First edition, first impression: W. H. Allen, London, 1958. Bound in the publisher's red boards (described by dealers as red buckram) with the spine lettered in gilt. The dust wrapper was designed by Mona Moore and is printed in green, black and red, depicting Arthur Seaton and Doreen; on unclipped copies the price is present at the flap, printed in bold red lettering. Binding colour, gilt spine lettering and the Mona Moore jacket are each corroborated by two independent PBFA/ABA/ILAB dealer descriptions. No independent transcription of the copyright-page verso was located in this pass, so none is published here: read the verso and treat any added reprint or impression statement as ruling out a first impression rather than relying on the 1958 title-page year.

## Is this the true first?
True first is W. H. Allen, London, 1958 — the census claim is confirmed. This was Sillitoe's first novel and won the Authors' Club Best First Novel Award for 1958. The first American edition is Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1959 (239 pp.), issued in a priced jacket with the price at the flap; it is collected as the American first but follows the London edition. Both are collected; the W. H. Allen 1958 has precedence.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue of the W. H. Allen first was corroborated against two independent sources in this pass, and none is asserted. The 1960 film adaptation drove later hardcover printings and paperback issues; all carry their own imprints on the title page and are not the first. The 1964 stage adaptation likewise generated later text issues that are 'first thus' at best.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Saturday Night and Sunday Morning* by Alan Sillitoe a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/saturday-night-and-sunday-morning
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.