# Is "The Second Sex (Le Deuxième Sexe)" by Simone de Beauvoir a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Second Sex (Le Deuxième Sexe) by Simone de Beauvoir (Gallimard, 1949) is identified by: True first (French): Paris, Gallimard, 1949, in the Collection Blanche, two volumes published months apart — Tome I, 'Les Faits et les Mythes', and Tome II, 'L'Expérience vécue'; approx. Census claim substantially confirmed, with one date not asserted.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- True first (French): Paris, Gallimard, 1949, in the Collection Blanche, two volumes published months apart — Tome I, 'Les Faits et les Mythes', and Tome II, 'L'Expérience vécue'; approx
- 15 x 21 cm, issued broché in printed wrappers
- Beyond the ordinary trade issue, the first edition includes a limited numbered issue: 2,000 numbered copies on alfa paper, above which sits the tirage de tête of 55 numbered copies on pur fil, the most limited deluxe issue; consulted sources give the limitation totals variously as 2,105 and 2,150, so the totals are not asserted here
- A publisher's decorated-cloth issue with binding designed by Mario Prassinos is also documented
- First English: 'The Second Sex', translated and edited by H. M. Parshley, New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1953 — a Borzoi book, quarto, collating xxx, 732, xiv pp., bound in green cloth lettered in blind over quarter dark blue cloth stamped in gilt, with 'FIRST AMERICAN EDITION' stated on the copyright page
- The Knopf jacket should be a priced jacket with the price present at the flap, unclipped being the desired state
- Publisher imprint reads Gallimard

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Simone de Beauvoir |
| Publisher | Gallimard |
| Year | 1949 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | True first (French): Paris, Gallimard, 1949, in the Collection Blanche, two volumes published months apart — Tome I, 'Les Faits et les… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
True first (French): Paris, Gallimard, 1949, in the Collection Blanche, two volumes published months apart — Tome I, 'Les Faits et les Mythes', and Tome II, 'L'Expérience vécue'; approx. 15 x 21 cm, issued broché in printed wrappers. Beyond the ordinary trade issue, the first edition includes a limited numbered issue: 2,000 numbered copies on alfa paper, above which sits the tirage de tête of 55 numbered copies on pur fil, the most limited deluxe issue; consulted sources give the limitation totals variously as 2,105 and 2,150, so the totals are not asserted here. A publisher's decorated-cloth issue with binding designed by Mario Prassinos is also documented. First English: 'The Second Sex', translated and edited by H. M. Parshley, New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1953 — a Borzoi book, quarto, collating xxx, 732, xiv pp., bound in green cloth lettered in blind over quarter dark blue cloth stamped in gilt, with 'FIRST AMERICAN EDITION' stated on the copyright page. The Knopf jacket should be a priced jacket with the price present at the flap, unclipped being the desired state.

## Is this the true first?
Census claim substantially confirmed, with one date not asserted. The Gallimard two-volume French text of 1949 is the true first and the original-language edition. Knopf's 1953 New York edition is the first edition in English as well as the first American edition; the census gives February 1953, which the consulted sources do not corroborate to the month, so only the year is stated here. Jonathan Cape's London edition followed in October 1953, so the Knopf precedes it — note that one dealer describes the Cape as a 'simultaneous' edition, which the October dating does not support. Both English editions are collected, but the Knopf holds priority.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue is documented for the Knopf first. Two substantive traps outrank any club tell. First, the Parshley translation is not the complete text: at Knopf's direction Parshley condensed the French, cutting an estimated 10-15 percent, so every 1953 Knopf and Cape copy is an abridgement. The 2009 Borde and Malovany-Chevallier translation is the first unabridged English version and is a 'first thus', not a first edition. Second, on the French side the two volumes were published months apart and are frequently married into sets; each volume's issue and paper state should be checked independently. Later Gallimard printings and the Collection Folio and Idées paperback reissues are reprints.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Second Sex (Le Deuxième Sexe)* by Simone de Beauvoir a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-second-sex-le-deuxi-me-sexe
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.