# Is "The World of Null-A" by A. E. van Vogt a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The World of Null-A by A. E. van Vogt (Simon & Schuster, 1948) is identified by: First book edition: Simon & Schuster, New York, 1948, issued under the title "The World of Ā" — the title page carries the Ā symbol, not the spelled-out "Null-A", which is itself a first-issue tell (the "Null-A" spelling belongs to the later Ace paperbacks). The Simon & Schuster 1948 US edition is the true first book edition worldwide and the census claim is correct.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First book edition: Simon & Schuster, New York, 1948, issued under the title "The World of Ā" — the title page carries the Ā symbol, not the spelled-out "Null-A", which is itself a first-issue tell (the "Null-A" spelling belongs to the later Ace paperbacks)
- Simon & Schuster used no first-edition statement in this period: per Quill & Brush, "Until 1952, no statement on first editions, but subsequent printings noted," and fedpo records "no printing statement" with matching title-page and copyright-page dates for S&S books of 1934–1948
- L. W. Currey's catalogue entry for the 1948 first likewise records "No statement of printing." So the point is negative: a true first has 1948 on both title and copyright pages and nothing on the copyright page indicating a later printing — any "Second printing" or similar note disqualifies it
- Collation is 246 pp. plus terminal leaf, cloth octavo, in a priced pictorial jacket (price present at the flap; a clipped flap removes the evidence)
- Dealer descriptions of the cloth shade and stamping colour are not consistent with one another, so binding colour alone should not be treated as a decisive point
- Publisher imprint reads Simon & Schuster
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | A. E. van Vogt |
| Publisher | Simon & Schuster |
| Year | 1948 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First book edition: Simon & Schuster, New York, 1948, issued under the title "The World of Ā" — the title page carries the Ā symbol, not… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
First book edition: Simon & Schuster, New York, 1948, issued under the title "The World of Ā" — the title page carries the Ā symbol, not the spelled-out "Null-A", which is itself a first-issue tell (the "Null-A" spelling belongs to the later Ace paperbacks). Simon & Schuster used no first-edition statement in this period: per Quill & Brush, "Until 1952, no statement on first editions, but subsequent printings noted," and fedpo records "no printing statement" with matching title-page and copyright-page dates for S&S books of 1934–1948; L. W. Currey's catalogue entry for the 1948 first likewise records "No statement of printing." So the point is negative: a true first has 1948 on both title and copyright pages and nothing on the copyright page indicating a later printing — any "Second printing" or similar note disqualifies it. Collation is 246 pp. plus terminal leaf, cloth octavo, in a priced pictorial jacket (price present at the flap; a clipped flap removes the evidence). Dealer descriptions of the cloth shade and stamping colour are not consistent with one another, so binding colour alone should not be treated as a decisive point.

## Is this the true first?
The Simon & Schuster 1948 US edition is the true first book edition worldwide and the census claim is correct. It was preceded only by the magazine serial in Astounding Science Fiction (August–October 1945), which the book text revises. There is no competing early UK edition: the first British hardcover is Dennis Dobson, London, 1969 — more than two decades later — so US precedence is not in dispute. First-thus trap: the 1970 Berkley Medallion text is a further authorial revision (new passages and a new van Vogt introduction) and is a distinct text state, not a first edition.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Grosset & Dunlap issued a 1950 hardcover reprint, also titled "The World of Ā" and carrying a Groff Conklin introduction; the G&D imprint on the spine and title page is the reprint tell, and copies are commonly mistaken for the S&S first because the S&S first has no edition statement to contrast against. Later Ace paperbacks retitled the book "The World of Null-A". No separate book-club issue is documented in the sources consulted.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The World of Null-A* by A. E. van Vogt a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-world-of-null-a
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.