# Is "The Playboy of the Western World: A Comedy in Three Acts" by J. M. Synge a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Playboy of the Western World: A Comedy in Three Acts by J. M. Synge (Maunsel & Co., Dublin, 1907) is identified by: Maunsel issued the 1907 first edition in three distinct forms, and priority runs to the wrappers, not the cloth — the census note omits this, which is the single most important refinement here. An Irish true first: Maunsel & Co., Dublin, 1907, with no simultaneous London or New York edition to displace it — Synge wrote in English, so no original-language question arises.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Maunsel issued the 1907 first edition in three distinct forms, and priority runs to the wrappers, not the cloth — the census note omits this, which is the single most important refinement here
- The first is the 'Theatre Edition' in original grey printed wrappers with the Abbey Theatre logo on the front cover, sold in the Abbey during the original production run (the play premiered at the Abbey on 26 January 1907 and provoked the celebrated riots); it collates 86 pp. plus 4 pp. of advertisements
- It was followed very soon after by the Library (trade) edition in tan cloth boards, which adds a portrait and Synge's preface — so the cloth copies most often offered as 'the first edition' are in fact the second form of the first edition
- Third is a de luxe issue limited to 25 copies on hand-made paper, carrying a limitation page
- A cloth copy is therefore not disqualified as a first edition, but it does not have priority over the wrappered Theatre Edition, and any description should say which of the three forms is in hand
- Publisher imprint reads Maunsel & Co., Dublin
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | J. M. Synge |
| Publisher | Maunsel & Co., Dublin |
| Year | 1907 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Poetry |
| Key point | Maunsel issued the 1907 first edition in three distinct forms, and priority runs to the wrappers, not the cloth — the census note omits… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Maunsel issued the 1907 first edition in three distinct forms, and priority runs to the wrappers, not the cloth — the census note omits this, which is the single most important refinement here. The first is the 'Theatre Edition' in original grey printed wrappers with the Abbey Theatre logo on the front cover, sold in the Abbey during the original production run (the play premiered at the Abbey on 26 January 1907 and provoked the celebrated riots); it collates 86 pp. plus 4 pp. of advertisements. It was followed very soon after by the Library (trade) edition in tan cloth boards, which adds a portrait and Synge's preface — so the cloth copies most often offered as 'the first edition' are in fact the second form of the first edition. Third is a de luxe issue limited to 25 copies on hand-made paper, carrying a limitation page. A cloth copy is therefore not disqualified as a first edition, but it does not have priority over the wrappered Theatre Edition, and any description should say which of the three forms is in hand.

## Is this the true first?
An Irish true first: Maunsel & Co., Dublin, 1907, with no simultaneous London or New York edition to displace it — Synge wrote in English, so no original-language question arises. The census claim of an Irish true first with 25 large-paper copies is confirmed; its only gap is the wrappers-over-cloth priority within that first edition. Later American printings (Boston, John W. Luce) and subsequent London and collected-works appearances are reprints or first-thus, not the first edition; dates for those were not confirmed in this pass and should not be published without a separate check.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue documented for 1907. Later-issue tells: any copy lacking the Abbey Theatre logo on grey printed wrappers is not the earliest form; the 25-copy hand-made-paper issue is identified by its limitation page and is a distinct de luxe form rather than the primary first; Maunsel reprinted the play, and American (John W. Luce, Boston) and collected-works settings follow the Dublin first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Playboy of the Western World: A Comedy in Three Acts* by J. M. Synge a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-playboy-of-the-western-world-a-comedy-in-three-acts
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.