# Is "The Rainbow" by D. H. Lawrence a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Rainbow by D. H. Lawrence (Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1915) is identified by: Ltd., London, published 30 September 1915; first printing 2,500 copies (McDonald 7; Roberts A7/A7a). Methuen, London, 30 September 1915 is the true first and the only edition carrying Lawrence's complete text — the census is confirmed on both counts.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Ltd., London, published 30 September 1915; first printing 2,500 copies (McDonald 7
- Roberts A7/A7a)
- The title page is undated — 'THE RAINBOW / By / D. H. Lawrence / Author of "Sons and Lovers" / Methuen & Co
- Ltd. / 36 Essex Street W. C. / London' — with 'First Published in 1915' centred on the verso; a dated title page is therefore not a first-edition feature
- Collation pp. viii + 468: half-title, title, dedication 'To Else', table of contents, text pp
- -463; the printers' imprint is centred on p
- Publisher imprint reads Methuen & Co. Ltd.

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | D. H. Lawrence |
| Publisher | Methuen & Co. Ltd. |
| Year | 1915 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Ltd., London, published 30 September 1915; first printing 2,500 copies (McDonald 7 |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Methuen & Co. Ltd., London, published 30 September 1915; first printing 2,500 copies (McDonald 7; Roberts A7/A7a). The title page is undated — 'THE RAINBOW / By / D. H. Lawrence / Author of "Sons and Lovers" / Methuen & Co. Ltd. / 36 Essex Street W. C. / London' — with 'First Published in 1915' centred on the verso; a dated title page is therefore not a first-edition feature. Collation pp. viii + 468: half-title, title, dedication 'To Else', table of contents, text pp. (1)-463; the printers' imprint is centred on p. (464), 'Printed in Great Britain by Hazell, Watson and Viney, Ld., London and Aylesbury'; p. (465) carries a list of 'Methuen's Popular Novels' dated 'Autumn, 1915'; pp. (466-468) carry the publishers' brief résumés of the novels listed. The four-page advertisement section and its Autumn 1915 dating are part of the first-edition collation. Binding: crown 8vo, bluish dark green cloth (also catalogued as dark blue-green); front cover with a single-line blind border, blind-lettered across the top 'The Rainbow / D. H. Lawrence'; spine ornamented and lettered in gilt with a flower-and-leaf design and 'Methuen' at foot; back cover blank; top and fore edges cut, bottom edges untrimmed; white endpapers. Dust jacket: pictorial design by Frank Wright; the jacket is rarely present.

## Is this the true first?
Methuen, London, 30 September 1915 is the true first and the only edition carrying Lawrence's complete text — the census is confirmed on both counts. The book circulated roughly six weeks before Bow Street magistrates ordered it suppressed as obscene on 13 November 1915; Methuen did not defend the action, was fined and complied with the order to destroy stock, so the majority of the 2,500 copies were destroyed and no copies were distributed by Methuen after 13 November 1915. The census date for the American edition is corrected: McDonald records the first American edition as published from new plates, in expurgated form, by B. W. Huebsch, New York, in 1916 — not 1915. Some sources report that it was in fact issued on 30 November 1915 with an 1916 title-page date in order to establish the American copyright, so the 1915/1916 dating is genuinely contested and both are noted rather than one asserted. In no account is it a co-first: it is a later, separately-set, expurgated edition.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue is documented for the 1915 Methuen. The traps are the expurgated American line — Huebsch (New York, 1916 title-page date), Huebsch's subsequent and more expensive form, and Thomas Seltzer (New York, 1924), all of which carry the same cut text — routinely offered as 'first editions' of The Rainbow when they are neither the first nor the complete text. Confirm against the Methuen points: undated title page, 'First Published in 1915' on the verso, the Hazell, Watson and Viney imprint on p. (464), and the 'Autumn, 1915' Methuen's Popular Novels list on p. (465).

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Rainbow* by D. H. Lawrence a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-rainbow
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.