# Is "The Girls of Slender Means" by Muriel Spark a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Girls of Slender Means by Muriel Spark (Macmillan, 1963) is identified by: London: Macmillan & Co., 1963. The UK Macmillan edition (1963) is the true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- London: Macmillan & Co., 1963
- First edition, first impression bound in blue boards stamped in gilt on the spine, octavo format
- The copyright page states 'First published 1963' with no later-impression statement, and the first-issue dust jacket retains the printed price to the flap, unclipped
- Publisher imprint reads Macmillan
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Muriel Spark |
| Publisher | Macmillan |
| Year | 1963 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | London: Macmillan & Co., 1963 |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
London: Macmillan & Co., 1963. First edition, first impression bound in blue boards stamped in gilt on the spine, octavo format. The copyright page states 'First published 1963' with no later-impression statement, and the first-issue dust jacket retains the printed price to the flap, unclipped.

## Is this the true first?
The UK Macmillan edition (1963) is the true first. The near-simultaneous US Alfred A. Knopf edition (New York, 1963) is a separate first American edition, issued in a dust jacket designed by George Salter.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later Macmillan impressions add an impression statement to the copyright page. Distinguish the UK Macmillan true first from the US Knopf first by imprint and by the Salter-designed jacket on the Knopf issue.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Girls of Slender Means* by Muriel Spark a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-girls-of-slender-means
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.