# Is "The Big Bow Mystery" by Israel Zangwill a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Big Bow Mystery by Israel Zangwill (Henry & Co., 1892) is identified by: Published in book form by Henry & Co., London, in 1892, a year after its 1891 serialization in the London evening newspaper The Star. The 1892 Henry & Co., London edition is the true first book edition, preceding the first American edition (Rand, McNally & Co., 1895) by three years.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Published in book form by Henry & Co., London, in 1892, a year after its 1891 serialization in the London evening newspaper The Star
- It is regarded as one of the earliest locked-room mystery novels published in English, a form the story helped popularize well before the genre's Golden Age
- Zangwill wrote the serialized text in a reported fourteen days, weaving readers' letters proposing solutions into the unfolding newspaper installments
- The first American edition did not appear until several years later, issued by Rand, McNally & Co. of Chicago in 1895
- Publisher imprint reads Henry & Co.
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Israel Zangwill |
| Publisher | Henry & Co. |
| Year | 1892 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Published in book form by Henry & Co., London, in 1892, a year after its 1891 serialization in the London evening newspaper The Star |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Published in book form by Henry & Co., London, in 1892, a year after its 1891 serialization in the London evening newspaper The Star. It is regarded as one of the earliest locked-room mystery novels published in English, a form the story helped popularize well before the genre's Golden Age. Zangwill wrote the serialized text in a reported fourteen days, weaving readers' letters proposing solutions into the unfolding newspaper installments. The first American edition did not appear until several years later, issued by Rand, McNally & Co. of Chicago in 1895.

## Is this the true first?
The 1892 Henry & Co., London edition is the true first book edition, preceding the first American edition (Rand, McNally & Co., 1895) by three years.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The 1928 Collins 'Detective Club' reissue, timed to a film adaptation, retitled the book 'The Perfect Crime'; copies under that title are this later reissue, not the 1892 Henry & Co. first edition or the 1895 Rand McNally first American edition.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Big Bow Mystery* by Israel Zangwill a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-big-bow-mystery
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.