# Is "The Man Upstairs and Other Stories" by P.G. Wodehouse a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Man Upstairs and Other Stories by P.G. Wodehouse (Methuen, 1914) is identified by: First printing, published in London by Methuen & Co. UK Methuen is the true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First printing, published in London by Methuen & Co. on 23 January 1914; a collection of nineteen short stories with no recurring Wodehouse characters
- The reference is McIlvaine A17a
- The first edition is in Methuen's publisher's cloth, typically red, with the title and author gilt-stamped on the spine
- A recognized collation point is the publisher's advertisements bound in at the rear dated the printed price/13, which should be present in a first issue
- Publisher imprint reads Methuen
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | P.G. Wodehouse |
| Publisher | Methuen |
| Year | 1914 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First printing, published in London by Methuen & Co. on 23 January 1914; a collection of nineteen short stories with no recurring Wodehouse… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First printing, published in London by Methuen & Co. on 23 January 1914; a collection of nineteen short stories with no recurring Wodehouse characters. The reference is McIlvaine A17a. The first edition is in Methuen's publisher's cloth, typically red, with the title and author gilt-stamped on the spine. A recognized collation point is the publisher's advertisements bound in at the rear dated the printed price/13, which should be present in a first issue.

## Is this the true first?
UK Methuen is the true first. The collection had no contemporaneous US book edition; the constituent stories were not gathered for American readers until decades later, so there is no competing American first for this title.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Man Upstairs and Other Stories* by P.G. Wodehouse a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-man-upstairs-and-other-stories
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.