# Is "The Immoralist" by André Gide a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Immoralist by André Gide (Société du Mercure de France, Paris, 1902) is identified by: The true first is the French L'Immoraliste, Société du Mercure de France, Paris, 1902 — printed by the Bussière press at Saint-Amand and finished 20 May 1902, with publication following in May 1902. The French original (Mercure de France, Paris, 1902) is the true first; there is no English edition of 1902 and every English text is a translation issue.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The true first is the French L'Immoraliste, Société du Mercure de France, Paris, 1902 — printed by the Bussière press at Saint-Amand and finished 20 May 1902, with publication following in May 1902
- Copies are numbered and printed on vergé d'Arches, issued in the plain blue printed wrappers that Mercure used for Gide's works from 1902 through 1946; the blue wrapper is the tell of the series rather than of the first printing alone, so the limitation leaf governs
- The printing is described as 300 numbered copies on vergé d'Arches; note one ambiguity carried in auction cataloguing, which calls the Arches copies 'le seul grand papier' (the only large paper) — phrasing that leaves open whether 300 was the entire edition or only its large-paper portion
- Treat the limitation statement in the copy at hand as the governing evidence
- Format is in-12, collating 259 pages
- Publisher imprint reads Société du Mercure de France, Paris
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | André Gide |
| Publisher | Société du Mercure de France, Paris |
| Year | 1902 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The true first is the French L'Immoraliste, Société du Mercure de France, Paris, 1902 — printed by the Bussière press at Saint-Amand and… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
The true first is the French L'Immoraliste, Société du Mercure de France, Paris, 1902 — printed by the Bussière press at Saint-Amand and finished 20 May 1902, with publication following in May 1902. Copies are numbered and printed on vergé d'Arches, issued in the plain blue printed wrappers that Mercure used for Gide's works from 1902 through 1946; the blue wrapper is the tell of the series rather than of the first printing alone, so the limitation leaf governs. The printing is described as 300 numbered copies on vergé d'Arches; note one ambiguity carried in auction cataloguing, which calls the Arches copies 'le seul grand papier' (the only large paper) — phrasing that leaves open whether 300 was the entire edition or only its large-paper portion. Treat the limitation statement in the copy at hand as the governing evidence. Format is in-12, collating 259 pages.

## Is this the true first?
The French original (Mercure de France, Paris, 1902) is the true first; there is no English edition of 1902 and every English text is a translation issue. The first English translation is Dorothy Bussy's, published in 1930 by Alfred A. Knopf, New York and by Cassell, London in the same year. The census claim that the US precedes the UK is NOT confirmed: both issues are dated 1930, and no source consulted established the month-level order (one dealer gives Knopf as March 1930; no comparable date was located for Cassell). Collectors take the Mercure 1902 as the book itself; the Knopf and Cassell 1930 issues are collected as the first appearance in English and should be treated as parallel until a firm date settles the order.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue is documented for the 1902 Mercure first. For the Knopf 1930, some copies were issued with a separate Knopf promotional brochure ('Andre Gide 1869-') laid in — that is a publisher's insert, not a club tell, and its presence is not required for a first nor evidence of one. Later Knopf and Cassell printings, the 1949 reissues, and the subsequent retranslations (Richard Howard for Random House; David Watson for Penguin; Stanley Appelbaum for Dover) are 'first thus' traps rather than firsts.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Immoralist* by André Gide a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-immoralist
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.