# Is "The Big Time" by Fritz Leiber a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Big Time by Fritz Leiber (Ace Books, 1961) is identified by: Ace Double D-491, bound dos-a-dos (tete-beche) with Leiber's 'The Mind Spider and Other Stories'; the printed price cover price printed on the cover; Ed Emshwiller cover art. The 1961 Ace Double paperback is the true first book edition (the text was first serialized in Galaxy, March-April 1958).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Ace Double D-491, bound dos-a-dos (tete-beche) with Leiber's 'The Mind Spider and Other Stories'; the printed price cover price printed on the cover
- Ed Emshwiller cover art
- The first Ace printing carries the D-491 catalog code and bears no statement of a later printing
- Publisher imprint reads Ace Books
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Fritz Leiber |
| Publisher | Ace Books |
| Year | 1961 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Ace Double D-491, bound dos-a-dos (tete-beche) with Leiber's 'The Mind Spider and Other Stories'; the printed price cover price printed on… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
Ace Double D-491, bound dos-a-dos (tete-beche) with Leiber's 'The Mind Spider and Other Stories'; the printed price cover price printed on the cover; Ed Emshwiller cover art. The first Ace printing carries the D-491 catalog code and bears no statement of a later printing.

## Is this the true first?
The 1961 Ace Double paperback is the true first book edition (the text was first serialized in Galaxy, March-April 1958). The first hardcover was Gregg Press in 1976 (first thus). The UK Penguin edition (1965) is later.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
There was no book-club edition. Later forms such as the single (non-Double) Ace G-627 and the Collier/Macmillan trade paperbacks are first-thus reprints, not the original Ace Double D-491.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Big Time* by Fritz Leiber a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-big-time
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.