# Is "The Phantom of the Opera (Le Fantôme de l'Opéra)" by Gaston Leroux a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Phantom of the Opera (Le Fantôme de l'Opéra) by Gaston Leroux (Pierre Lafitte & Cie, Paris, 1910) is identified by: The first printing carries NO edition statement on the title page ('sans mention d'édition'). The French original has clear precedence and the census claim is confirmed: Paris, Pierre Lafitte & Cie, March 1910, preceded only by the serial run in Le Gaulois, 23 September 1909 to 8 January 1910.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The first printing carries NO edition statement on the title page ('sans mention d'édition')
- The diagnostic first-state text error is on page 400, which reads 'fatal rocher' where it should read 'fatal nocher'; this was corrected from the second edition onward, so a copy without the error is not the first printing regardless of what the wrapper claims
- Collation is 12mo (roughly 171-188 x 108-120 mm), 520 pages plus preliminary leaves, with a half-title; issued in publisher's illustrated wrappers, and also found in publisher's red percaline with black fleurons and white spine lettering and a beige linen title cartouche on the front cover
- Beware the cover: some genuine 1910 copies carry a fictitious edition number on the front wrapper or in a Leroux works-list facing the title, reading e.g. '17me Édition' or '22e édition' — these are publisher's puffery and do NOT disqualify a copy
- The page 400 reading is what settles it; later
- copies that otherwise look identical carry different cover numbers and the corrected text
- Publisher imprint reads Pierre Lafitte & Cie, Paris

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Gaston Leroux |
| Publisher | Pierre Lafitte & Cie, Paris |
| Year | 1910 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The first printing carries NO edition statement on the title page ('sans mention d'édition') |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
The first printing carries NO edition statement on the title page ('sans mention d'édition'). The diagnostic first-state text error is on page 400, which reads 'fatal rocher' where it should read 'fatal nocher'; this was corrected from the second edition onward, so a copy without the error is not the first printing regardless of what the wrapper claims. Collation is 12mo (roughly 171-188 x 108-120 mm), 520 pages plus preliminary leaves, with a half-title; issued in publisher's illustrated wrappers, and also found in publisher's red percaline with black fleurons and white spine lettering and a beige linen title cartouche on the front cover. Beware the cover: some genuine 1910 copies carry a fictitious edition number on the front wrapper or in a Leroux works-list facing the title, reading e.g. '17me Édition' or '22e édition' — these are publisher's puffery and do NOT disqualify a copy. The page 400 reading is what settles it; later (1912) copies that otherwise look identical carry different cover numbers and the corrected text.

## Is this the true first?
The French original has clear precedence and the census claim is confirmed: Paris, Pierre Lafitte & Cie, March 1910, preceded only by the serial run in Le Gaulois, 23 September 1909 to 8 January 1910. Both 1911 English editions are collected and both used Alexander Teixeira de Mattos's translation: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Indianapolis/New York (first US — with André Castaigne plates, one single-page and four double-page inserted colour plates, and 'Press of Braunworth & Co., Bookbinders and Printers, Brooklyn, N.Y.' on the copyright page) and Mills & Boon, London (first UK). Priority between Bobbs-Merrill and Mills & Boon could NOT be established — sources describe them as concurrent — so do not assert either as 'the' English first. Note two traps for the unwary: the Teixeira de Mattos translation is heavily abridged (roughly 100 pages cut from Leroux), and the Castaigne plates never appeared in the French first despite Castaigne being French.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The dominant reprint trap is the Grosset & Dunlap photoplay edition, New York, 1925, issued for the Universal/Lon Chaney silent film: it retains the 1911 Bobbs-Merrill copyright date on the verso, which is exactly what fools buyers into thinking it a first. Identify it by the Grosset & Dunlap imprint on title page and spine, black-and-white film stills on coated stock, red cloth with black lettering, and the wraparound photoplay jacket art. Later Lafitte printings are told by combining the cover edition number with the corrected page 400 reading.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Phantom of the Opera (Le Fantôme de l'Opéra)* by Gaston Leroux a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-phantom-of-the-opera-le-fant-me-de-lop-ra
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.