# Is "The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner" by Alan Sillitoe a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner by Alan Sillitoe (W.H. Allen, 1959) is identified by: First edition, first impression published by W.H. W.H.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, first impression published by W.H. Allen, London, 1959 (Crown 8vo, 176 pp.), in the publisher's grey cloth-grained boards with the spine lettered in silver; issued in a pictorial dust jacket illustrated by Mona Moore, priced at the front flap (many surviving jackets are price-clipped)
- This is Sillitoe's SECOND book — his first story collection — following the novel Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (W.H. Allen, 1958); a recurring dealer error mislabels it 'his first book,' which is incorrect
- The collection won the 1959 Hawthornden Prize
- Publisher imprint reads W.H. Allen
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Alan Sillitoe |
| Publisher | W.H. Allen |
| Year | 1959 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, first impression published by W.H. Allen, London, 1959 (Crown 8vo, 176 pp.), in the publisher's grey cloth-grained boards… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First edition, first impression published by W.H. Allen, London, 1959 (Crown 8vo, 176 pp.), in the publisher's grey cloth-grained boards with the spine lettered in silver; issued in a pictorial dust jacket illustrated by Mona Moore, priced at the front flap (many surviving jackets are price-clipped). This is Sillitoe's SECOND book — his first story collection — following the novel Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (W.H. Allen, 1958); a recurring dealer error mislabels it 'his first book,' which is incorrect. The collection won the 1959 Hawthornden Prize.

## Is this the true first?
W.H. Allen (London) 1959 is the true first; the Alfred A. Knopf (New York) 1960 edition is the first American, published roughly a year later (jacket priced at the flap). Both are collected; London has priority.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
First printing carries no later-impression notice. Later W.H. Allen impressions and Pan/paperback issues are reprints, and the Knopf 1960 is a distinct first American — not the first edition overall.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner* by Alan Sillitoe a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-loneliness-of-the-long-distance-runner
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.