# Is "The Great Divorce" by C.S. Lewis a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis (Geoffrey Bles: The Centenary Press, 1945) is identified by: First UK edition, published November 1945 under the joint Geoffrey Bles: The Centenary Press imprint; publisher's yellow cloth, spine lettered in black, dust jacket; 118 pages; fragile War Economy production. UK Bles/Centenary Press true first (November 1945); US Macmillan edition follows in 1946.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First UK edition, published November 1945 under the joint Geoffrey Bles: The Centenary Press imprint; publisher's yellow cloth, spine lettered in black, dust jacket
- 118 pages; fragile War Economy production
- First serialized in The Guardian, 1944 to 1945
- Publisher imprint reads Geoffrey Bles: The Centenary Press
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | C.S. Lewis |
| Publisher | Geoffrey Bles: The Centenary Press |
| Year | 1945 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First UK edition, published November 1945 under the joint Geoffrey Bles: The Centenary Press imprint; publisher's yellow cloth, spine… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First UK edition, published November 1945 under the joint Geoffrey Bles: The Centenary Press imprint; publisher's yellow cloth, spine lettered in black, dust jacket; 118 pages; fragile War Economy production. First serialized in The Guardian, 1944 to 1945.

## Is this the true first?
UK Bles/Centenary Press true first (November 1945); US Macmillan edition follows in 1946.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later printings differ.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Great Divorce* by C.S. Lewis a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-great-divorce
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.