# Is "The Acceptance World" by Anthony Powell a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Acceptance World by Anthony Powell (Heinemann, 1955) is identified by: True first is the London Heinemann 1955 hardcover, first impression, with no statement of a later printing on the reverse of the title page. UK Heinemann 1955 is the true first; the first American edition was published the same year, 1955, by Farrar, Straus and Cudahy in New York (the firm's name at that date was Farrar, Straus and Cudahy), and it follows the British printing.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- True first is the London Heinemann 1955 hardcover, first impression, with no statement of a later printing on the reverse of the title page
- Volume three of A Dance to the Music of Time, the sequence begun with A Question of Upbringing
- and A Buyer's Market
- Bound in Heinemann's red cloth with gilt lettering to the spine, 8vo, 214 pages
- The first-issue dust jacket carries the pictorial design by Broom-Lynne and should retain its printed price to the front flap
- Publisher imprint reads Heinemann
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Anthony Powell |
| Publisher | Heinemann |
| Year | 1955 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | True first is the London Heinemann 1955 hardcover, first impression, with no statement of a later printing on the reverse of the title page |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
True first is the London Heinemann 1955 hardcover, first impression, with no statement of a later printing on the reverse of the title page. Volume three of A Dance to the Music of Time, the sequence begun with A Question of Upbringing (1951) and A Buyer's Market (1952). Bound in Heinemann's red cloth with gilt lettering to the spine, 8vo, 214 pages. The first-issue dust jacket carries the pictorial design by Broom-Lynne and should retain its printed price to the front flap.

## Is this the true first?
UK Heinemann 1955 is the true first; the first American edition was published the same year, 1955, by Farrar, Straus and Cudahy in New York (the firm's name at that date was Farrar, Straus and Cudahy), and it follows the British printing.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later impressions and book-club issues followed; verify the copy carries no later-printing statement and that the jacket bears the Broom-Lynne art with its printed price.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Acceptance World* by Anthony Powell a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-acceptance-world
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.