# Is "The Lawless Roads" by Graham Greene a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Lawless Roads by Graham Greene (Longmans, Green, 1939) is identified by: First edition, first impression, Longmans, Green (London), 1939 (Wobbe A14); octavo, 306 pages, with a map of Mexico printed across both endpapers. UK Longmans, Green is the true first; the US edition (Viking, 1939) appeared under the changed title Another Mexico.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, first impression, Longmans, Green (London), 1939 (Wobbe A14); octavo, 306 pages, with a map of Mexico printed across both endpapers
- Greene's Mexico travel book, based on his 1938 journey commissioned by Longmans, which also fed the novel The Power and the Glory
- The earliest state is bound in red cloth with gilt (gold) lettering to the spine; a later binding state shows the spine lettering stamped in black rather than gilt
- Issued in a pictorial dust jacket
- Publisher imprint reads Longmans, Green
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Graham Greene |
| Publisher | Longmans, Green |
| Year | 1939 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, first impression, Longmans, Green (London), 1939 (Wobbe A14); octavo, 306 pages, with a map of Mexico printed across both… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First edition, first impression, Longmans, Green (London), 1939 (Wobbe A14); octavo, 306 pages, with a map of Mexico printed across both endpapers. Greene's Mexico travel book, based on his 1938 journey commissioned by Longmans, which also fed the novel The Power and the Glory. The earliest state is bound in red cloth with gilt (gold) lettering to the spine; a later binding state shows the spine lettering stamped in black rather than gilt. Issued in a pictorial dust jacket.

## Is this the true first?
UK Longmans, Green is the true first; the US edition (Viking, 1939) appeared under the changed title Another Mexico.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
US edition retitled Another Mexico.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Lawless Roads* by Graham Greene a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-lawless-roads
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.