# Is "The Plague (La Peste)" by Albert Camus a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Plague (La Peste) by Albert Camus (Éditions Gallimard, 1947) is identified by: French first, Gallimard, 1947, in printed wrappers, with the achevé d'imprimer dated May 1947. The French Gallimard edition is the true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- French first, Gallimard, 1947, in printed wrappers, with the achevé d'imprimer dated May 1947
- A tiered grand-papier issue precedes the ordinary trade copies: a small number on Japon imperial, then on Hollande, then 215 numbered copies on vélin pur fil Lafuma-Navarre, ahead of the much larger alfa Navarre printing
- The ordinary trade copies carry the 1947 achevé d'imprimer with no later reprint statement; service de presse copies lack the printed price
- Publisher imprint reads Éditions Gallimard
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Albert Camus |
| Publisher | Éditions Gallimard |
| Year | 1947 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | French first, Gallimard, 1947, in printed wrappers, with the achevé d'imprimer dated May 1947 |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
French first, Gallimard, 1947, in printed wrappers, with the achevé d'imprimer dated May 1947. A tiered grand-papier issue precedes the ordinary trade copies: a small number on Japon imperial, then on Hollande, then 215 numbered copies on vélin pur fil Lafuma-Navarre, ahead of the much larger alfa Navarre printing. The ordinary trade copies carry the 1947 achevé d'imprimer with no later reprint statement; service de presse copies lack the printed price.

## Is this the true first?
The French Gallimard edition is the true first. It precedes both the UK Hamish Hamilton (1948) and US Knopf (1948) English editions, both in the Stuart Gilbert translation; of the two English issues, Hamish Hamilton precedes Knopf.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The distinction between the ordinary alfa trade issue and the earlier numbered grand-papier copies (notably the vélin pur fil) is the key point. Later Gallimard printings show higher mille statements. The Gilbert English translation is not the world first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Plague (La Peste)* by Albert Camus a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-plague-la-peste
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.