# Is "The Invention of Morel" by Adolfo Bioy Casares a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Invention of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares (Editorial Losada, Buenos Aires, 1940) is identified by: True first: Editorial Losada, Buenos Aires, 1940 (La invencion de Morel), issued in original illustrated wrappers with cover and interior illustration by Norah Borges and a prologue by Jorge Luis Borges; printed at the Imprenta Lopez, Buenos Aires, the print colophon dated 14 November 1940 identifies the first printing. Original-language (Argentine Spanish) true first is Losada 1940.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- True first: Editorial Losada, Buenos Aires, 1940 (La invencion de Morel), issued in original illustrated wrappers with cover and interior illustration by Norah Borges and a prologue by Jorge Luis Borges; printed at the Imprenta Lopez, Buenos Aires, the print colophon dated 14 November 1940 identifies the first printing
- First edition in English is a 'first thus' omnibus, 'The Invention of Morel and Other Stories (from La Trama Celeste),' University of Texas Press, Austin, 1964, translated by Ruth L. C. Simms with full-page illustrations by Norah Borges de Torre and the Borges prologue; the novella appears in English there for the first time
- The UT Press first is bound in light whitish-brown cloth, spine lettered in black with spine and front board stamped in green, green endpapers, in a priced pictorial dust jacket; a variant with the top edge stained yellow is recorded
- Publisher imprint reads Editorial Losada, Buenos Aires
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Adolfo Bioy Casares |
| Publisher | Editorial Losada, Buenos Aires |
| Year | 1940 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | True first: Editorial Losada, Buenos Aires, 1940 (La invencion de Morel), issued in original illustrated wrappers with cover and interior… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
True first: Editorial Losada, Buenos Aires, 1940 (La invencion de Morel), issued in original illustrated wrappers with cover and interior illustration by Norah Borges and a prologue by Jorge Luis Borges; printed at the Imprenta Lopez, Buenos Aires, the print colophon dated 14 November 1940 identifies the first printing. First edition in English is a 'first thus' omnibus, 'The Invention of Morel and Other Stories (from La Trama Celeste),' University of Texas Press, Austin, 1964, translated by Ruth L. C. Simms with full-page illustrations by Norah Borges de Torre and the Borges prologue; the novella appears in English there for the first time. The UT Press first is bound in light whitish-brown cloth, spine lettered in black with spine and front board stamped in green, green endpapers, in a priced pictorial dust jacket; a variant with the top edge stained yellow is recorded.

## Is this the true first?
Original-language (Argentine Spanish) true first is Losada 1940. No competing UK edition of the period exists; the first English is the US University of Texas Press 1964 omnibus, which should be collected as 'first in English / first thus,' not as the first appearance of the text (that is the 1940 Losada).

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition is documented for either the 1940 Losada or the 1964 UT Press first. The NYRB Classics reissue (2003, reusing the Simms translation) and later paperbacks are reprints, not firsts.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Invention of Morel* by Adolfo Bioy Casares a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-invention-of-morel
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.