Is My The Stranger a First Edition?

The points of issue

• French true first: L'Étranger, Éditions Gallimard, Paris — printed 21 April 1942, on sale from June 1942
• The ordinary edition was 4,400 copies, deliberately divided: 400 service de presse (review) copies, 500 copies with no edition statement, and 3,500 copies carrying FALSE edition statements running from 'deuxième édition' through 'huitième édition' on the lower wrapper — Gallimard split the single printing into eight fictitious 'editions' of 550 copies each
• A wrapper reading, say, '5e édition' is therefore still first-printing sheets and is not a demotion
• No grands papiers (large-paper/deluxe) copies were produced — paper was scarce in 1942 and Camus was then unknown — so any claimed deluxe issue of the first is a red flag
• Service de presse copies, not for sale, carry no price on the lower wrapper; trade copies have the price present
• First edition in English: The Outsider, translated by Stuart Gilbert with an introduction by Cyril Connolly, Hamish Hamilton, London, 1946 — grey-green textured cloth with gilt-stamped spine titles, priced jacket (price present at the flap)

How to confirm the first-printing statement

Publishers stated first printings differently by era. The decisive tells are a printed “First Edition/First Printing” statement, a number line whose lowest number is 1 (Random House ends at 2), or a dated first printing with no later printings listed. Paste your copyright page into the number-line decoder.

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Confirm the first-edition statement — look for “First Edition,” “First Printing,” or the publisher’s equivalent wording.
3. Check for a number line or dated printing — the lowest number present is the printing; a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the tell.
4. Verify this is the British true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
5. Rule out a book-club edition — a blind-stamp on the rear board or a jacket with no printed price marks a book-club copy.
6. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

The dust jacket

For a collectible first edition the dust jacket matters as much as the book. Confirm the jacket is present and unclipped — the printed price should still be at the corner of the flap (a clipped corner or a price-less flap can indicate a book-club issue). First-state jackets can differ from later ones in the cover art, blurbs, or review quotations; where a specific first-state jacket point is known for this title it is noted above.

Binding & format

Where multiple bindings exist, the hardcover trade issue is usually (but not always) the precedence copy — confirm against the points above. Later printings often show cheaper cloth, thinner boards, or simplified spine stamping. A simultaneous signed or limited issue, when one exists, is a distinct state from the trade first.

Is this the true first?

CORRECTION to the census. The French Gallimard 1942 true first is confirmed, but the census claim that 'Knopf is generally given priority' in English is wrong: Hamish Hamilton (London, 1946) published Gilbert's translation FIRST, as The Outsider, and precedes Alfred A. Knopf (New York, 1946). Hamish Hamilton changed Gilbert's title to The Outsider — considering it more striking, and to avoid collision with Maria Kuncewiczowa's Cudzoziemka, then newly published in London as The Stranger; Knopf had already typeset the book under Gilbert's original title when told of the change and kept The Stranger, which is why the British and American titles have diverged ever since. Both are collected: Hamish Hamilton as the first in English (and the only one with the Connolly introduction), Knopf as the first American. Matthew Ward's 1988 Knopf translation is 'first thus'.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club issue is documented for the 1942 Gallimard. The trap on the French first is the inverse of the usual one — the wrapper 'edition' statements are fictitious and do not demote a copy; judge by the 1942 Gallimard imprint and the April 1942 printing, and note that copies without any edition statement (500) and the service de presse copies (400) are the least-common states. For the English, the reprint tells are straightforward: later Hamish Hamilton and Knopf printings state their printing, and the Vintage/Penguin paperbacks are reprints. A copy titled The Stranger cannot be the first English edition; a copy titled The Outsider cannot be the first American.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Stranger a first edition?

A first edition of The Stranger by Albert Camus (Éditions Gallimard, Paris) is identified by: French true first: L'Étranger, Éditions Gallimard, Paris — printed 21 April 1942, on sale from June 1942.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A stated first edition, a number line ending in 1, or a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the key. CORRECTION to the census.

Is the book-club edition the same as the first?

No book-club issue is documented for the 1942 Gallimard. The trap on the French first is the inverse of the usual one — the wrapper 'edition' statements are fictitious and do not demote a copy; judge by the 1942 Gallimard imprint and the April 1942 printing, and note that copies without any edition statement (500) and the service de presse copies (400) are the least-common states. For the English, the reprint tells are straightforward: later Hamish Hamilton and Knopf printings state their printi

I have a first edition of The Stranger — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap — an unclipped, priced jacket matters. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and use the free First Edition Checker to decode the printing. To sell, the author’s collecting guide covers the market. And if you are clearing books in the Albuquerque area, the New Mexico Literacy Project offers free pickup, any condition, and makes sure collectible copies are identified rather than discarded.

Glossary

First edition

Every copy printed from the first setting of type. Collectors usually want the first edition, first printing (the true first).

First printing / impression

A single press run from that setting. The first printing is the earliest and most desirable; later printings are still the first edition but not the true first.

Number line (printer's key)

A row of numbers on the copyright page (e.g. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1). The lowest number present is the printing — a line including 1 marks a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2).

Points of issue

Specific physical details — a stated edition, a number line, a typo, a jacket state — that identify the true first printing.

Book-club edition (BCE)

A reprint made for a book club. Tells include a blind-stamped dot or square on the rear board and a dust jacket with no printed price. Not the true first.

First thus

The first appearance of a particular version (first paperback, first illustrated, first U.S. printing) — a first of that kind, not the first edition of the work.