# Is "The Unnamable (L'Innommable)" by Samuel Beckett a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Unnamable (L'Innommable) by Samuel Beckett (Les Éditions de Minuit, 1953) is identified by: The true first is the French-language 'L'Innommable,' Les Éditions de Minuit, Paris, 1953, in the customary printed wrappers (broché, in-8), with 'achevé d'imprimer le 20 mai 1953' in the colophon; a small large-paper issue of 50 numbered copies on vélin supérieur constitutes the only limited state (Federman & Fletcher). Original-language precedence: the French Minuit (Paris) 1953 edition is the true first of the work.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The true first is the French-language 'L'Innommable,' Les Éditions de Minuit, Paris, 1953, in the customary printed wrappers (broché, in-8), with 'achevé d'imprimer le 20 mai 1953' in the colophon; a small large-paper issue of 50 numbered copies on vélin supérieur constitutes the only limited state (Federman & Fletcher)
- The first English-language edition is 'The Unnamable,' Grove Press, New York, 1958, in Beckett's own translation, issued in gray quarter cloth and boards lettered in gilt with a priced dust jacket (Federman & Fletcher 377) and, generally regarded as simultaneous, the Evergreen Original E-117 wrappers
- The clothbound Grove trade issue is scarce, especially in jacket
- Publisher imprint reads Les Éditions de Minuit
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Samuel Beckett |
| Publisher | Les Éditions de Minuit |
| Year | 1953 |
| True first | British edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The true first is the French-language 'L'Innommable,' Les Éditions de Minuit, Paris, 1953, in the customary printed wrappers (broché… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
The true first is the French-language 'L'Innommable,' Les Éditions de Minuit, Paris, 1953, in the customary printed wrappers (broché, in-8), with 'achevé d'imprimer le 20 mai 1953' in the colophon; a small large-paper issue of 50 numbered copies on vélin supérieur constitutes the only limited state (Federman & Fletcher). The first English-language edition is 'The Unnamable,' Grove Press, New York, 1958, in Beckett's own translation, issued in gray quarter cloth and boards lettered in gilt with a priced dust jacket (Federman & Fletcher 377) and, generally regarded as simultaneous, the Evergreen Original E-117 wrappers. The clothbound Grove trade issue is scarce, especially in jacket.

## Is this the true first?
Original-language precedence: the French Minuit (Paris) 1953 edition is the true first of the work. The Grove Press (New York) 1958 English translation is the first edition in English and is separately collected; the first British edition followed from John Calder (London), 1959. Do not treat any English printing as the true first of the text.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition documented. Later Grove printings and the repeatedly reprinted Evergreen paperback are not first printings; the collected first is the 1953 Minuit wrappers and, in English, the 1958 Grove clothbound trade issue in jacket.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Unnamable (L'Innommable)* by Samuel Beckett a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-unnamable-linnommable
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.