# Is "The Third Policeman" by Flann O'Brien a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien (MacGibbon & Kee, 1967) is identified by: Published posthumously by MacGibbon & Kee, London, in 1967; the novel was written in 1939-40 and withheld by the author, who died in 1966. MacGibbon & Kee (London), 1967, is the accepted true first; Walker and Co.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Published posthumously by MacGibbon & Kee, London, in 1967; the novel was written in 1939-40 and withheld by the author, who died in 1966
- The first printing is an octavo of 200 pages in brown boards with the spine lettered in gilt — note that catalogues conflict on the material, Second Story Books describing dark brown cloth boards and Ulysses Rare Books brown paper boards, so the boards material should not be relied on alone
- The jacket has a white spine lettered in black and carries the price present at the flap on unclipped copies
- No number line is present; identification rests on the MacGibbon & Kee imprint and the 1967 copyright-page statement
- Publisher imprint reads MacGibbon & Kee
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Flann O'Brien |
| Publisher | MacGibbon & Kee |
| Year | 1967 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Published posthumously by MacGibbon & Kee, London, in 1967; the novel was written in 1939-40 and withheld by the author, who died in 1966 |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Published posthumously by MacGibbon & Kee, London, in 1967; the novel was written in 1939-40 and withheld by the author, who died in 1966. The first printing is an octavo of 200 pages in brown boards with the spine lettered in gilt — note that catalogues conflict on the material, Second Story Books describing dark brown cloth boards and Ulysses Rare Books brown paper boards, so the boards material should not be relied on alone. The jacket has a white spine lettered in black and carries the price present at the flap on unclipped copies. No number line is present; identification rests on the MacGibbon & Kee imprint and the 1967 copyright-page statement.

## Is this the true first?
MacGibbon & Kee (London), 1967, is the accepted true first; Walker and Co. (New York) issued the first American edition, also dated 1967, and both are collected. The two are easily confused because the Walker issue is likewise in brown paper-covered boards with gilt spine lettering — the reliable separators are the imprint and the jacket, the Walker jacket being pictorial with artwork credited to John Farman, against the London issue's plain white spine lettered in black. Month-level precedence within 1967 was not documented in the sources consulted: the UK priority rests on the consistent position of independent ABAA/ILAB dealers cataloguing the MacGibbon & Kee as the first edition and the Walker as the first American, rather than on a dated bibliographic finding.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club or reprint issue of the 1967 MacGibbon & Kee printing is documented in the sources consulted. The chief hazard for this title is not a club edition but the same-year Walker American issue being offered simply as a '1967 first edition'; confirm the imprint on the title page and spine before accepting a copy as the London first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Third Policeman* by Flann O'Brien a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-third-policeman
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.