# Is "The Humanoids" by Jack Williamson a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Humanoids by Jack Williamson (Simon & Schuster, 1949) is identified by: First book edition: Simon & Schuster, New York, 1949. US original and the true first book edition; the census claim is correct.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First book edition: Simon & Schuster, New York, 1949
- Identification is by absence, not by statement: Quill & Brush records that for Simon & Schuster "Until 1952, no statement on first editions, but subsequent printings noted," and fedpo agrees that S&S books of this era show no printing statement with matching title-page and copyright-page dates
- A true first therefore reads 1949 on both the title and copyright pages and carries nothing on the copyright page indicating a later printing; any "Second printing" or later note on the copyright page disqualifies the copy
- The book is an octavo in cloth-covered boards, issued in a priced pictorial jacket (price present at the flap)
- One dealer reports a five-digit number stamped on the rear endpaper as a first-printing marker, but this is uncorroborated and is contradicted by the standard Simon & Schuster publisher guides, which identify first printings solely by the absence of a printing statement — do not rely on the endpaper number
- Publisher imprint reads Simon & Schuster
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Jack Williamson |
| Publisher | Simon & Schuster |
| Year | 1949 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First book edition: Simon & Schuster, New York, 1949 |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
First book edition: Simon & Schuster, New York, 1949. Identification is by absence, not by statement: Quill & Brush records that for Simon & Schuster "Until 1952, no statement on first editions, but subsequent printings noted," and fedpo agrees that S&S books of this era show no printing statement with matching title-page and copyright-page dates. A true first therefore reads 1949 on both the title and copyright pages and carries nothing on the copyright page indicating a later printing; any "Second printing" or later note on the copyright page disqualifies the copy. The book is an octavo in cloth-covered boards, issued in a priced pictorial jacket (price present at the flap). One dealer reports a five-digit number stamped on the rear endpaper as a first-printing marker, but this is uncorroborated and is contradicted by the standard Simon & Schuster publisher guides, which identify first printings solely by the absence of a printing statement — do not rely on the endpaper number.

## Is this the true first?
US original and the true first book edition; the census claim is correct. The text was first serialized in Astounding Science Fiction (1948) as "…And Searching Mind", a sequel to the 1947 Astounding novelette "With Folded Hands" — magazine appearances only, not book editions. The first British edition is Museum Press, London, 1953, four years after the US book, so the Simon & Schuster 1949 clearly holds precedence and the UK issue is not a rival first. New Mexico author (Portales); this is the trade-house counterpart to Williamson's Fantasy Press titles.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Grosset & Dunlap issued a hardcover reprint in 1950 bearing its own imprint; the G&D imprint on the spine and title page is the reprint tell, and it is the copy most often mistaken for the S&S first precisely because the genuine first carries no edition statement to compare against. Later Avon and Lancer paperbacks carry their own imprints. No separate contemporaneous book-club issue is documented in the sources consulted.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Humanoids* by Jack Williamson a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-humanoids
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.