# Is "The Shape of Things to Come" by H. G. Wells a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Shape of Things to Come by H. G. Wells (Hutchinson & Co., 1933) is identified by: (Publishers) Ltd, London, 1933, published September 1933. Hutchinson (London) 1933 is the original edition and the census call is sound, though the margin is narrow: both editions appeared in 1933 and the US issue is stated "Published September, 1933" on its copyright page, so no source consulted fixes a priority by date.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- (Publishers) Ltd, London, 1933, published September 1933
- Original blue cloth, the front panel stamped in blind and the spine panel stamped in gold; octavo
- Currey collates pp. [i-vi] vii-ix [x-xii] 13-431 [432]. Half-title present
- The key first-issue point is the publisher's catalogue dated "Autumn 1933" bound in at the rear — its presence, and specifically its Autumn 1933 dating, is what separates the first issue from later Hutchinson impressions, which carry a later-dated catalogue or none
- Descriptions record the inserted catalogue at both 12 pages and 10 pages; that discrepancy was not resolved, so treat the dating rather than the leaf count as the point
- The UK title page carries the subtitle "The Ultimate Revolution." Jacket should be priced at the flap (price present, unclipped)
- Publisher imprint reads Hutchinson & Co.

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | H. G. Wells |
| Publisher | Hutchinson & Co. |
| Year | 1933 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | (Publishers) Ltd, London, 1933, published September 1933 |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Hutchinson & Co. (Publishers) Ltd, London, 1933, published September 1933. Original blue cloth, the front panel stamped in blind and the spine panel stamped in gold; octavo. Currey collates pp. [i-vi] vii-ix [x-xii] 13-431 [432]. Half-title present. The key first-issue point is the publisher's catalogue dated "Autumn 1933" bound in at the rear — its presence, and specifically its Autumn 1933 dating, is what separates the first issue from later Hutchinson impressions, which carry a later-dated catalogue or none. Descriptions record the inserted catalogue at both 12 pages and 10 pages; that discrepancy was not resolved, so treat the dating rather than the leaf count as the point. The UK title page carries the subtitle "The Ultimate Revolution." Jacket should be priced at the flap (price present, unclipped).

## Is this the true first?
Hutchinson (London) 1933 is the original edition and the census call is sound, though the margin is narrow: both editions appeared in 1933 and the US issue is stated "Published September, 1933" on its copyright page, so no source consulted fixes a priority by date. The finding rests on two independent bibliographic authorities treating the Hutchinson as the original — Sargent's Utopian Literature in English records the Hutchinson, London, 1933 and then lists the American separately as "U.S. ed. without the subtitle. New York: Macmillan, 1933," and Currey catalogues the Hutchinson as the first edition. The first American edition (The Macmillan Company, New York, 1933) is collected in its own right: ix, [1], 431 pp., dark blue cloth with gilt spine and cover titles, and — the readiest discriminator — no subtitle on the title page, where the UK reads The Shape of Things to Come: The Ultimate Revolution.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue is documented for either 1933 edition in the sources consulted. On the UK side the readiest reprint tell is the rear catalogue: absence of the Autumn 1933 publisher's catalogue, or a catalogue dated to a later season, indicates a later Hutchinson impression rather than the first issue. The many modern reissues and the Alexander Korda film tie-in material are reprints or "first thus," not firsts.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Shape of Things to Come* by H. G. Wells a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-shape-of-things-to-come
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.