# Is "The Last Defender of Camelot" by Roger Zelazny a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Last Defender of Camelot by Roger Zelazny (Pocket Books, 1980) is identified by: Paperback original; first printing from Pocket Books under its Timescape imprint, catalogued as Pocket number 41773 and issued December 1980, roughly 308 pages, with wraparound cover art by Carl Lundgren. US Pocket Books (Timescape) paperback original, Pocket 41773, December 1980, is the true first appearance of the collection.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Paperback original; first printing from Pocket Books under its Timescape imprint, catalogued as Pocket number 41773 and issued December 1980, roughly 308 pages, with wraparound cover art by Carl Lundgren
- This story collection assembled by Zelazny appeared first in this mass-market softcover form; a first printing shows the Pocket/Timescape imprint on the copyright page with no later-printing statement
- Publisher imprint reads Pocket Books
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Roger Zelazny |
| Publisher | Pocket Books |
| Year | 1980 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Paperback original; first printing from Pocket Books under its Timescape imprint, catalogued as Pocket number 41773 and issued December… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Paperback original; first printing from Pocket Books under its Timescape imprint, catalogued as Pocket number 41773 and issued December 1980, roughly 308 pages, with wraparound cover art by Carl Lundgren. This story collection assembled by Zelazny appeared first in this mass-market softcover form; a first printing shows the Pocket/Timescape imprint on the copyright page with no later-printing statement.

## Is this the true first?
US Pocket Books (Timescape) paperback original, Pocket 41773, December 1980, is the true first appearance of the collection. The later Underwood-Miller hardcover is a separate collectible reprint of the contents, not the first appearance.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book club edition of the paperback original; as a mass-market original there is no separate BCE to confuse with the first printing.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Last Defender of Camelot* by Roger Zelazny a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-last-defender-of-camelot
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.