# Is "The Mystic Masseur" by V.S. Naipaul a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Mystic Masseur by V.S. Naipaul (André Deutsch, 1957) is identified by: The true first is the André Deutsch (London) hardback of 1957, identified by 'First Published 1957' on the copyright page with no later-impression line beneath it. UK André Deutsch (London) 1957 is the true first and precedes the first American edition, The Vanguard Press (New York) 1959, by two years; both are collected.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The true first is the André Deutsch (London) hardback of 1957, identified by 'First Published 1957' on the copyright page with no later-impression line beneath it
- Publisher's cloth is described by dealers as toffee-brown to burnt-orange with gilt lettering to the spine; the pictorial dust jacket is by Robert Micklewright and shows a price at the front flap (price-clipped copies are common)
- This was Naipaul's first published book — Miguel Street, though written earlier, was not published until 1959
- Publisher imprint reads André Deutsch
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | V.S. Naipaul |
| Publisher | André Deutsch |
| Year | 1957 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The true first is the André Deutsch (London) hardback of 1957, identified by 'First Published 1957' on the copyright page with no… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
The true first is the André Deutsch (London) hardback of 1957, identified by 'First Published 1957' on the copyright page with no later-impression line beneath it. Publisher's cloth is described by dealers as toffee-brown to burnt-orange with gilt lettering to the spine; the pictorial dust jacket is by Robert Micklewright and shows a price at the front flap (price-clipped copies are common). This was Naipaul's first published book — Miguel Street, though written earlier, was not published until 1959.

## Is this the true first?
UK André Deutsch (London) 1957 is the true first and precedes the first American edition, The Vanguard Press (New York) 1959, by two years; both are collected. The Vanguard printing states 'First American Edition, First Printing' and is the US first, not the world first — note that Wikipedia's infobox misleadingly dates the US edition to 1957, but every dealer copy of the Vanguard edition is dated 1959.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No significant book-club edition of note; the reprint tell is an added impression line on the copyright page. The 1959 Vanguard printing is a separate American first (black cloth, peach/blue spine lettering), not a reprint of the Deutsch sheets.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Mystic Masseur* by V.S. Naipaul a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-mystic-masseur
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.