# Is "The Book of the Unnamed Midwife" by Meg Elison a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Book of the Unnamed Midwife by Meg Elison (Sybaritic Press, 2014) is identified by: US Sybaritic Press trade paperback, published 5 June 2014, ISBN 978-1-4951-1636-0, 190 pages; a small-press original and Elison's debut novel. The US Sybaritic Press 2014 edition is the true first; the 47North edition (2016, ISBN 9781503939110) is a later reissue or first thus.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- US Sybaritic Press trade paperback, published 5 June 2014, ISBN 978-1-4951-1636-0, 190 pages; a small-press original and Elison's debut novel
- As a small-press paperback there is no dust jacket and no publisher's number line, so the Sybaritic imprint, the 2014 date, and the 1-4951-1636-0 ISBN on the copyright page are the identifying points
- Publisher imprint reads Sybaritic Press
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Meg Elison |
| Publisher | Sybaritic Press |
| Year | 2014 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | US Sybaritic Press trade paperback, published 5 June 2014, ISBN 978-1-4951-1636-0, 190 pages; a small-press original and Elison's debut… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
US Sybaritic Press trade paperback, published 5 June 2014, ISBN 978-1-4951-1636-0, 190 pages; a small-press original and Elison's debut novel. As a small-press paperback there is no dust jacket and no publisher's number line, so the Sybaritic imprint, the 2014 date, and the 1-4951-1636-0 ISBN on the copyright page are the identifying points.

## Is this the true first?
The US Sybaritic Press 2014 edition is the true first; the 47North edition (2016, ISBN 9781503939110) is a later reissue or first thus. Won the Philip K. Dick Award presented for 2014. The small-press Sybaritic printing is genuinely scarce and is the desirable first.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The 47North 2016 reissue is a reprint, not the true first; most copies in circulation are the 47North reissue.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Book of the Unnamed Midwife* by Meg Elison a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-book-of-the-unnamed-midwife
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.