# Is "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe" by Douglas Adams a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams (Pan Books, 1980) is identified by: The true first is the Pan paperback original: pictorial card wrappers, "First published 1980 by Pan Books Ltd" stated on the copyright page with no later dates and no impression line, cover price printed on the rear wrapper, ISBN 0 330 26213 0, approx. CENSUS CORRECTED.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The true first is the Pan paperback original: pictorial card wrappers, "First published 1980 by Pan Books Ltd" stated on the copyright page with no later dates and no impression line, cover price printed on the rear wrapper, ISBN 0 330 26213 0, approx
- 176 x 110 mm
- Being a paperback original, it has no jacket points — condition of the card covers is everything
- The first hardback issue is Arthur Barker (London, 1980), later the same year: first impression so stated, jacket design by Andrew Kay from an illustration by Mike Litherland
- The first American edition is Harmony Books, New York: "First Edition" together with the full number line "10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1" on the copyright page, blue cloth with black sides, price present at the jacket flap
- Publisher imprint reads Pan Books
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Douglas Adams |
| Publisher | Pan Books |
| Year | 1980 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The true first is the Pan paperback original: pictorial card wrappers, "First published 1980 by Pan Books Ltd" stated on the copyright page… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
The true first is the Pan paperback original: pictorial card wrappers, "First published 1980 by Pan Books Ltd" stated on the copyright page with no later dates and no impression line, cover price printed on the rear wrapper, ISBN 0 330 26213 0, approx. 176 x 110 mm. Being a paperback original, it has no jacket points — condition of the card covers is everything. The first hardback issue is Arthur Barker (London, 1980), later the same year: first impression so stated, jacket design by Andrew Kay from an illustration by Mike Litherland. The first American edition is Harmony Books, New York: "First Edition" together with the full number line "10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1" on the copyright page, blue cloth with black sides, price present at the jacket flap.

## Is this the true first?
CENSUS CORRECTED. The Pan paperback original (UK, October 1980) is the true first — correct as claimed — but the census misses the Arthur Barker (London) hardcover of 1980, which is the first hardback issue and the classic "first thus" trap on this title: it is a genuine 1980 hardcover but it follows the Pan wrappers. Both are collected. The census date for the US edition is also wrong: the first American edition is Harmony Books, New York, released January 1981 (LCCN 81006563, ISBN 0517545357), not 1982 — though some dealer records and one collecting guide date the Harmony first American edition 1980, so treat the US year as 1980/81 unresolved rather than 1982.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No UK book-club edition is documented for the Pan original. Later Pan printings are identified by an added impression line or date on the copyright page and by a changed cover price. The Pocket Books mass-market issues (1982, 1985), the Del Rey/Ballantine reissue, and the Pan Macmillan series-branded reprints are all plainly imprinted and carry their own edition statements.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Restaurant at the End of the Universe* by Douglas Adams a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-restaurant-at-the-end-of-the-universe
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.