# Is "The Midwich Cuckoos" by John Wyndham a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham (Michael Joseph, 1957) is identified by: First edition, first impression: London, Michael Joseph, 1957, octavo, 239 pp., in the publisher's black cloth with the spine lettered in gilt. Census claim CONFIRMED as to precedence, with one correction to the detail: Michael Joseph, London, 1957 is the true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, first impression: London, Michael Joseph, 1957, octavo, 239 pp., in the publisher's black cloth with the spine lettered in gilt
- Dustwrapper is the red-and-cream pictorial design by Dick Hart, with the publisher's price present at the foot of the front flap
- Per Michael Joseph's house convention, first impressions state "First published" with the year on the copyright page and list no further impressions; the presence of any additional impression statement (e.g. a second or third impression line, some dated 1958) rules out the first
- There is no number line on this publisher's books of the period
- Publisher imprint reads Michael Joseph
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | John Wyndham |
| Publisher | Michael Joseph |
| Year | 1957 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, first impression: London, Michael Joseph, 1957, octavo, 239 pp., in the publisher's black cloth with the spine lettered in… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First edition, first impression: London, Michael Joseph, 1957, octavo, 239 pp., in the publisher's black cloth with the spine lettered in gilt. Dustwrapper is the red-and-cream pictorial design by Dick Hart, with the publisher's price present at the foot of the front flap. Per Michael Joseph's house convention, first impressions state "First published" with the year on the copyright page and list no further impressions; the presence of any additional impression statement (e.g. a second or third impression line, some dated 1958) rules out the first. There is no number line on this publisher's books of the period.

## Is this the true first?
Census claim CONFIRMED as to precedence, with one correction to the detail: Michael Joseph, London, 1957 is the true first. The Science Fiction Encyclopedia bibliography lists The Midwich Cuckoos (London: Michael Joseph, 1957) followed by The Midwich Cuckoos (New York: Ballantine Books, 1958) marked "[rev of the above]". The US Ballantine edition therefore did NOT follow in the same year — it is 1958, and it carries a revised text, so it is not textually identical to the UK first. Only the Michael Joseph edition is the true first; the Ballantine 1958 is the first American edition. The novel is the basis of the film Village of the Damned, and film-tie-in reissues are a first-thus trap.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue is documented for the 1957 Michael Joseph printing in the sources consulted. Later Michael Joseph impressions (second, third, some carrying 1958 dates) are identified by the added impression statement on the copyright page while retaining the same jacket design, which is a common source of misdescription on this title.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Midwich Cuckoos* by John Wyndham a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-midwich-cuckoos
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.