Is My The World's Last Night and Other Essays a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Harcourt, Brace and Company, New York, first American edition, February 1960
• 113 pages, with "first edition" stated on the copyright page
• Bound in teal cloth, the spine lettered in gilt with a gilt device to the upper board and yellow endpapers, in a dust jacket designed by Jeanyee Wong (red title over black author name over a black, white and red flourish with a central cross, on a teal ground) bearing its printed price
• The gathering assembles essays for the US market, including "Screwtape Proposes a Toast."

How Harcourt Brace marked a first edition

• 1960-1970 (Harcourt, Brace & World): continued 'First Edition' / 'First American Edition'.

Full Harcourt Brace first-edition guide →

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Confirm the first-edition statement — look for “First Edition,” “First Printing,” or the publisher’s equivalent wording.
3. Check for a number line or dated printing — the lowest number present is the printing; a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the tell.
4. Verify this is the US true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
5. Rule out a book-club edition — a blind-stamp on the rear board or a jacket with no printed price marks a book-club copy.
6. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

The dust jacket

For a collectible first edition the dust jacket matters as much as the book. Confirm the jacket is present and unclipped — the printed price should still be at the corner of the flap (a clipped corner or a price-less flap can indicate a book-club issue). First-state jackets can differ from later ones in the cover art, blurbs, or review quotations; where a specific first-state jacket point is known for this title it is noted above.

Binding & format

Where multiple bindings exist, the hardcover trade issue is usually (but not always) the precedence copy — confirm against the points above. Later printings often show cheaper cloth, thinner boards, or simplified spine stamping. A simultaneous signed or limited issue, when one exists, is a distinct state from the trade first.

Is this the true first?

US Harcourt Brace 1960 is the true first for this gathering; no earlier UK edition of this collection precedes it.P-003982

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Individual essays appear elsewhere, but this February 1960 gathering is their first collected appearance in this form. Later printings drop the "first edition" statement on the copyright page.P-003983

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The World's Last Night and Other Essays a first edition?

A first edition of The World's Last Night and Other Essays by C.S. Lewis (Harcourt Brace) is identified by: Harcourt, Brace and Company, New York, first American edition, February 1960; 113 pages, with "first edition" stated on the copyright page.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A stated first edition, a number line ending in 1, or a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the key. US Harcourt Brace 1960 is the true first for this gathering; no earlier UK edition of this collection precedes it.

Is the book-club edition the same as the first?

Individual essays appear elsewhere, but this February 1960 gathering is their first collected appearance in this form. Later printings drop the "first edition" statement on the copyright page.

I have a first edition of The World's Last Night and Other Essays — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap — an unclipped, priced jacket matters. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and use the free First Edition Checker to decode the printing. To sell, the author’s collecting guide covers the market. And if you are clearing books in the Albuquerque area, the New Mexico Literacy Project offers free pickup, any condition, and makes sure collectible copies are identified rather than discarded.

Glossary

First edition

Every copy printed from the first setting of type. Collectors usually want the first edition, first printing (the true first).

First printing / impression

A single press run from that setting. The first printing is the earliest and most desirable; later printings are still the first edition but not the true first.

Number line (printer's key)

A row of numbers on the copyright page (e.g. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1). The lowest number present is the printing — a line including 1 marks a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2).

Points of issue

Specific physical details — a stated edition, a number line, a typo, a jacket state — that identify the true first printing.

Book-club edition (BCE)

A reprint made for a book club. Tells include a blind-stamped dot or square on the rear board and a dust jacket with no printed price. Not the true first.

First thus

The first appearance of a particular version (first paperback, first illustrated, first U.S. printing) — a first of that kind, not the first edition of the work.