# Is "The Devils of Loudun" by Aldous Huxley a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Devils of Loudun by Aldous Huxley (Chatto & Windus, 1952) is identified by: First edition, first impression, Chatto & Windus, London, 1952; orange cloth, gilt spine lettering, frontispiece portrait of Urbain Grandier plus further plates and a bibliography. Both the London (Chatto & Windus) and New York (Harper & Brothers) editions are dated 1952; a firm priority of one country's edition over the other is not established by the standard bibliographies, so the UK edition cannot be asserted as the unambiguous true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, first impression, Chatto & Windus, London, 1952; orange cloth, gilt spine lettering, frontispiece portrait of Urbain Grandier plus further plates and a bibliography
- A Harper & Brothers edition also appeared in New York in 1952
- Publisher imprint reads Chatto & Windus
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Aldous Huxley |
| Publisher | Chatto & Windus |
| Year | 1952 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, first impression, Chatto & Windus, London, 1952; orange cloth, gilt spine lettering, frontispiece portrait of Urbain… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First edition, first impression, Chatto & Windus, London, 1952; orange cloth, gilt spine lettering, frontispiece portrait of Urbain Grandier plus further plates and a bibliography. A Harper & Brothers edition also appeared in New York in 1952.

## Is this the true first?
Both the London (Chatto & Windus) and New York (Harper & Brothers) editions are dated 1952; a firm priority of one country's edition over the other is not established by the standard bibliographies, so the UK edition cannot be asserted as the unambiguous true first.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue of the true first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Devils of Loudun* by Aldous Huxley a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-devils-of-loudun
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.