# Is "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" by Stieg Larsson a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (MacLehose Press / Quercus, 2008) is identified by: First English-language edition: the UK hardcover, MacLehose Press / Quercus, London, 2008, translated by Reg Keeland — a pseudonym of Steven T. World true first is the Swedish original, Män som hatar kvinnor ('Men Who Hate Women'), Norstedts, Stockholm, 2005, published posthumously (Larsson died in 2004).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First English-language edition: the UK hardcover, MacLehose Press / Quercus, London, 2008, translated by Reg Keeland — a pseudonym of Steven T. Murray, who adopted it because he objected to the publisher's editing of his text (the UK house 'prettified' his translation)
- The reliable first-printing identifier is a complete number line ending in 1 on the copyright page
- This UK edition precedes the first American edition (Alfred A. Knopf, September 2008): both appeared in 2008, with the UK first
- First printings predate the book's runaway success, so the first-issue priced jacket carries no film tie-in or bestseller banners; later printings and issues added review / 'major motion picture' slugs
- Publisher imprint reads MacLehose Press / Quercus
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Stieg Larsson |
| Publisher | MacLehose Press / Quercus |
| Year | 2008 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First English-language edition: the UK hardcover, MacLehose Press / Quercus, London, 2008, translated by Reg Keeland — a pseudonym of… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First English-language edition: the UK hardcover, MacLehose Press / Quercus, London, 2008, translated by Reg Keeland — a pseudonym of Steven T. Murray, who adopted it because he objected to the publisher's editing of his text (the UK house 'prettified' his translation). The reliable first-printing identifier is a complete number line ending in 1 on the copyright page. This UK edition precedes the first American edition (Alfred A. Knopf, September 2008): both appeared in 2008, with the UK first. First printings predate the book's runaway success, so the first-issue priced jacket carries no film tie-in or bestseller banners; later printings and issues added review / 'major motion picture' slugs.

## Is this the true first?
World true first is the Swedish original, Män som hatar kvinnor ('Men Who Hate Women'), Norstedts, Stockholm, 2005, published posthumously (Larsson died in 2004). For English collectors the UK MacLehose/Quercus 2008 is the first English edition and the sought issue; the first American is Alfred A. Knopf, September 2008. Both English firsts are dated 2008 — the UK precedes the US.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition is the trap here; the trap is conflating three firsts. Distinguish the Swedish true first (Norstedts 2005) from the UK first-English (Quercus/MacLehose 2008, number line ending in 1) from the US first-American (Knopf 2008). The US Knopf is NOT the first English-language printing — the UK edition precedes it.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo* by Stieg Larsson a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo
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.