# Is "The Wanderer" by Fritz Leiber a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Wanderer by Fritz Leiber (Ballantine Books, 1964) is identified by: Paperback original, Ballantine Books U6010, 1964, cover the printed price; text of 318 pages plus final leaf. The US Ballantine 1964 paperback original is the true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Paperback original, Ballantine Books U6010, 1964, cover the printed price; text of 318 pages plus final leaf
- First printing carries the U6010 code on the spine and cover with no added printing statement on the copyright page; illustrated wrappers with cover art by Bob Abbett and yellow-orange stained edges
- The first Hugo Award winner for Best Novel to have appeared neither in hardcover nor in a genre magazine beforehand
- Publisher imprint reads Ballantine Books
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Fritz Leiber |
| Publisher | Ballantine Books |
| Year | 1964 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Paperback original, Ballantine Books U6010, 1964, cover the printed price; text of 318 pages plus final leaf |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Paperback original, Ballantine Books U6010, 1964, cover the printed price; text of 318 pages plus final leaf. First printing carries the U6010 code on the spine and cover with no added printing statement on the copyright page; illustrated wrappers with cover art by Bob Abbett and yellow-orange stained edges. The first Hugo Award winner for Best Novel to have appeared neither in hardcover nor in a genre magazine beforehand.

## Is this the true first?
The US Ballantine 1964 paperback original is the true first. The first hardcover was Walker (1969), a first thus only. The UK Dobson (1967) hardcover is later.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book club edition of the original paperback; later Ballantine printings add a printing statement or advance a number line. The Walker hardcover is not the first edition.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Wanderer* by Fritz Leiber a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-wanderer
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.