# Is "The Neon Bible" by John Kennedy Toole a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Neon Bible by John Kennedy Toole (Grove Weidenfeld, 1989) is identified by: True first edition: Grove Weidenfeld, New York, 1989 (issued May 1989) — the posthumous publication of the novel Toole wrote in 1954, with an introduction by W. US Grove Weidenfeld (New York), 1989 is the true first and precedes the UK.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- True first edition: Grove Weidenfeld, New York, 1989 (issued May 1989) — the posthumous publication of the novel Toole wrote in 1954, with an introduction by W. Kenneth Holditch
- Hardcover, xi + 162 pp.; the first printing states 'First Edition' with a full number line descending to 1 on the copyright page
- The imprint is recorded by some dealers simply as 'Grove Press,' the parent house then trading as Grove Weidenfeld — the same entity, not a variant edition
- Confirm the number line to 1 and the hardcover binding
- Publisher imprint reads Grove Weidenfeld
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | John Kennedy Toole |
| Publisher | Grove Weidenfeld |
| Year | 1989 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | True first edition: Grove Weidenfeld, New York, 1989 (issued May 1989) — the posthumous publication of the novel Toole wrote in 1954, with… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
True first edition: Grove Weidenfeld, New York, 1989 (issued May 1989) — the posthumous publication of the novel Toole wrote in 1954, with an introduction by W. Kenneth Holditch. Hardcover, xi + 162 pp.; the first printing states 'First Edition' with a full number line descending to 1 on the copyright page. The imprint is recorded by some dealers simply as 'Grove Press,' the parent house then trading as Grove Weidenfeld — the same entity, not a variant edition. Confirm the number line to 1 and the hardcover binding.

## Is this the true first?
US Grove Weidenfeld (New York), 1989 is the true first and precedes the UK. UK edition: Viking, London (ISBN 0-670-82908-0), issued after the US. The census precedence (US 1989 first) is confirmed; the book completes the two-book Toole canon alongside A Confederacy of Dunces.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Book-club and same-year softcover issues exist (Open Library records a paperback book-club issue, and Grove Weidenfeld released a softcover the same year); neither is the true first hardcover. Verify the number line to 1 on the copyright page.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Neon Bible* by John Kennedy Toole a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-neon-bible
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.