# Is "The War of the Worlds" by H. G. Wells a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells (William Heinemann, 1898) is identified by: First published in book form by William Heinemann in 1898, after serialization in Pearson's Magazine in Britain and Cosmopolitan in the United States during 1897. The Heinemann first edition (London, 1898) is the true first book publication, preceding the Harper & Brothers first American edition issued the same year.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First published in book form by William Heinemann in 1898, after serialization in Pearson's Magazine in Britain and Cosmopolitan in the United States during 1897
- The true first edition, first state, has 16 pages of publisher's advertisements dated Autumn 1897 following the text; a first-edition second state substitutes a 32-page catalogue that opens with a Joseph Conrad title
- Both states are bound in the publisher's original grey cloth lettered in black
- Publisher imprint reads William Heinemann
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | H. G. Wells |
| Publisher | William Heinemann |
| Year | 1898 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First published in book form by William Heinemann in 1898, after serialization in Pearson's Magazine in Britain and Cosmopolitan in the… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First published in book form by William Heinemann in 1898, after serialization in Pearson's Magazine in Britain and Cosmopolitan in the United States during 1897. The true first edition, first state, has 16 pages of publisher's advertisements dated Autumn 1897 following the text; a first-edition second state substitutes a 32-page catalogue that opens with a Joseph Conrad title. Both states are bound in the publisher's original grey cloth lettered in black.

## Is this the true first?
The Heinemann first edition (London, 1898) is the true first book publication, preceding the Harper & Brothers first American edition issued the same year.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The Harper & Brothers first American edition, illustrated throughout by Warwick Goble, is bound in green-toned cloth rather than the Heinemann first edition's grey cloth and is not the true first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The War of the Worlds* by H. G. Wells a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-war-of-the-worlds
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.