# Is "The Long Goodbye" by Raymond Chandler a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler (Hamish Hamilton, 1953) is identified by: TRUE FIRST is the UK Hamish Hamilton edition, November 1953, which PRECEDES the US Houghton Mifflin edition (March 1954) by about four months. Critical precedence point: the UK Hamish Hamilton edition (November 1953) is the true first edition worldwide; the US Houghton Mifflin follows in March 1954 (about four months later).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- TRUE FIRST is the UK Hamish Hamilton edition, November 1953, which PRECEDES the US Houghton Mifflin edition (March 1954) by about four months
- UK first points: bound in publisher's brown / reddish-brown (burgundy) cloth; green pictorial dust jacket designed by Fritz Wegner, with its printed price on the flap (price present/unclipped on an unclipped copy); the UK first styles the title 'The Long Good-Bye' (hyphenated) on the jacket and title page
- The US Houghton Mifflin first (1954, green and blue cloth, title stamped in green) uses the unhyphenated 'The Long Goodbye' and carries its own first-printing indicia
- Publisher imprint reads Hamish Hamilton
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Raymond Chandler |
| Publisher | Hamish Hamilton |
| Year | 1953 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | TRUE FIRST is the UK Hamish Hamilton edition, November 1953, which PRECEDES the US Houghton Mifflin edition (March 1954) by about four… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
TRUE FIRST is the UK Hamish Hamilton edition, November 1953, which PRECEDES the US Houghton Mifflin edition (March 1954) by about four months. UK first points: bound in publisher's brown / reddish-brown (burgundy) cloth; green pictorial dust jacket designed by Fritz Wegner, with its printed price on the flap (price present/unclipped on an unclipped copy); the UK first styles the title 'The Long Good-Bye' (hyphenated) on the jacket and title page. The US Houghton Mifflin first (1954, green and blue cloth, title stamped in green) uses the unhyphenated 'The Long Goodbye' and carries its own first-printing indicia.

## Is this the true first?
Critical precedence point: the UK Hamish Hamilton edition (November 1953) is the true first edition worldwide; the US Houghton Mifflin follows in March 1954 (about four months later). Collectors specifically seek the London first; US buyers frequently mis-call the Houghton Mifflin the 'first.'

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Detective Book Club and other US club editions reprint the American text; tell them by the club's blind stamp on the rear board and bulky cheap paper. None precede the UK first. As further checks on the UK first, look for the brown/burgundy cloth and the hyphenated 'The Long Good-Bye.'

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Long Goodbye* by Raymond Chandler a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-long-goodbye
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.