# Is "The Chrysalids" by John Wyndham a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Chrysalids by John Wyndham (Ballantine Books, 1955) is identified by: The true first is Re-Birth, Ballantine Books, New York, 1955 — issued, per Ballantine's simultaneous-format practice of the period, in small octavo cloth with dustwrapper and as a Ballantine paperback (No. The census claim that Michael Joseph (UK) 1955 is the true first is REFUTED and has been corrected.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The true first is Re-Birth, Ballantine Books, New York, 1955 — issued, per Ballantine's simultaneous-format practice of the period, in small octavo cloth with dustwrapper and as a Ballantine paperback (No
- 104), with cover art by Richard M. Powers
- L.W. Currey records no printing statement in the book itself, so the first issue is established by the 1955 Ballantine imprint and format rather than by an edition statement
- The Michael Joseph (London) 1955 edition, titled The Chrysalids, is the first UK edition, the first appearance under the title by which the book is now known, and carries the revised/fuller text; it is black cloth, 239 pp., in the pictorial dustwrapper with cover art by Wildsmith, with the publisher's price present at the flap
- Michael Joseph first impressions state "First published" with the year on the copyright page and carry no additional impression line — an added impression statement rules out the first
- Publisher imprint reads Ballantine Books
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | John Wyndham |
| Publisher | Ballantine Books |
| Year | 1955 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The true first is Re-Birth, Ballantine Books, New York, 1955 — issued, per Ballantine's simultaneous-format practice of the period, in… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
The true first is Re-Birth, Ballantine Books, New York, 1955 — issued, per Ballantine's simultaneous-format practice of the period, in small octavo cloth with dustwrapper and as a Ballantine paperback (No. 104), with cover art by Richard M. Powers; L.W. Currey records no printing statement in the book itself, so the first issue is established by the 1955 Ballantine imprint and format rather than by an edition statement. The Michael Joseph (London) 1955 edition, titled The Chrysalids, is the first UK edition, the first appearance under the title by which the book is now known, and carries the revised/fuller text; it is black cloth, 239 pp., in the pictorial dustwrapper with cover art by Wildsmith, with the publisher's price present at the flap. Michael Joseph first impressions state "First published" with the year on the copyright page and carry no additional impression line — an added impression statement rules out the first.

## Is this the true first?
The census claim that Michael Joseph (UK) 1955 is the true first is REFUTED and has been corrected. Two independent bibliographic authorities place the American edition first: L.W. Currey (ABAA/ILAB) catalogues Re-Birth (Ballantine, 1955) as the "First edition" and notes it was "Published later in Britain with textual differences as THE CHRYSALIDS (1955)"; the Science Fiction Encyclopedia lists Re-Birth (New York: Ballantine Books, 1955) as the primary entry with The Chrysalids (London: Michael Joseph, 1955) marked "[vt of the above]" and summarises the novel as "Re-Birth (1955; rev vt The Chrysalids 1955)." ISFDB dates the Ballantine Re-Birth to April 1955. Both editions are collected and both should be named: Ballantine's Re-Birth is the true first; Michael Joseph's The Chrysalids is the first UK edition, the first under the standard title, and textually the preferred text. Note that the popular record — including Wikipedia and many dealer listings — routinely misstates Michael Joseph 1955 as the first publication; those listings describe the UK first without addressing precedence and are not evidence against Currey and SFE. The alternate-title trap is real but runs the opposite direction from the census note.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue is documented for either 1955 edition in the sources consulted. For the Michael Joseph edition the reprint tell is an added impression statement on the copyright page. For the Ballantine issue, the cloth and paperback formats are simultaneous rather than sequential and neither is a reprint of the other; the paperback bears the Ballantine series number.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Chrysalids* by John Wyndham a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-chrysalids
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.