# Is "The Alice B. Toklas Cook Book" by Alice B. Toklas a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Alice B. Toklas Cook Book by Alice B. Toklas (Michael Joseph, London, 1954) is identified by: The true first is the London Michael Joseph edition of 1954, illustrated by Sir Francis Rose: original tan cloth, the spine lettered and decorated in gilt on a green ground, illustrated endpapers, and top edge stained green, in a priced dust jacket. The London Michael Joseph edition precedes the New York Harper & Brothers edition (reported at about two days earlier) and is also the fuller text, since Harper dropped the hashish-fudge recipe — so the UK issue is the collected first on both grounds.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The true first is the London Michael Joseph edition of 1954, illustrated by Sir Francis Rose: original tan cloth, the spine lettered and decorated in gilt on a green ground, illustrated endpapers, and top edge stained green, in a priced dust jacket
- The defining textual point is Brion Gysin's 'Haschich Fudge' recipe, present on page 259 of the Michael Joseph printing
- The New York Harper & Brothers edition of the same year expurgated that recipe, and US first-issue copies are reported in quarter olive-green cloth over orange paper boards
- Publisher imprint reads Michael Joseph, London
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Alice B. Toklas |
| Publisher | Michael Joseph, London |
| Year | 1954 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The true first is the London Michael Joseph edition of 1954, illustrated by Sir Francis Rose: original tan cloth, the spine lettered and… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
The true first is the London Michael Joseph edition of 1954, illustrated by Sir Francis Rose: original tan cloth, the spine lettered and decorated in gilt on a green ground, illustrated endpapers, and top edge stained green, in a priced dust jacket. The defining textual point is Brion Gysin's 'Haschich Fudge' recipe, present on page 259 of the Michael Joseph printing. The New York Harper & Brothers edition of the same year expurgated that recipe, and US first-issue copies are reported in quarter olive-green cloth over orange paper boards.

## Is this the true first?
The London Michael Joseph edition precedes the New York Harper & Brothers edition (reported at about two days earlier) and is also the fuller text, since Harper dropped the hashish-fudge recipe — so the UK issue is the collected first on both grounds. The recipe was not restored to an American edition until the early 1960s.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later Harper/Anchor and subsequent UK reprints restore the fudge recipe, so the recipe's mere presence does not confirm the 1954 Michael Joseph first; identify by the Michael Joseph imprint, 1954 date, and the tan-cloth/green-ground gilt spine.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Alice B. Toklas Cook Book* by Alice B. Toklas a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-alice-b-toklas-cook-book
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.