# Is "Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man" by Marshall McLuhan a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man by Marshall McLuhan (McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1964) is identified by: First edition, first printing: McGraw-Hill, New York, 1964, collating vii + 359 pp., in original white cloth with a black spine label lettered white (title) and gilt (author and publisher). US true first: McGraw-Hill, New York, 1964.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, first printing: McGraw-Hill, New York, 1964, collating vii + 359 pp., in original white cloth with a black spine label lettered white (title) and gilt (author and publisher)
- The jacket is a multicolour pictorial design (attributed to Abner Graboff) and is priced at the flap
- No distinct textual first-issue point is documented for this title; identification of the first printing rests on the 1964 imprint carrying NO statement of a later printing on the copyright page (later printings are so noted) together with the priced first-state jacket
- Physical points confirmed against two independent dealer descriptions (Between the Covers ABAA and others)
- Publisher imprint reads McGraw-Hill Book Company
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Marshall McLuhan |
| Publisher | McGraw-Hill Book Company |
| Year | 1964 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, first printing: McGraw-Hill, New York, 1964, collating vii + 359 pp., in original white cloth with a black spine label… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First edition, first printing: McGraw-Hill, New York, 1964, collating vii + 359 pp., in original white cloth with a black spine label lettered white (title) and gilt (author and publisher). The jacket is a multicolour pictorial design (attributed to Abner Graboff) and is priced at the flap. No distinct textual first-issue point is documented for this title; identification of the first printing rests on the 1964 imprint carrying NO statement of a later printing on the copyright page (later printings are so noted) together with the priced first-state jacket. Physical points confirmed against two independent dealer descriptions (Between the Covers ABAA and others).

## Is this the true first?
US true first: McGraw-Hill, New York, 1964. A London edition (Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1964) follows the same year and is also collected, but the McGraw-Hill printing is the first. Much-later MIT Press editions are reprints, not first-edition issues. Census note is correct.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No prominent book-club edition. Because later McGraw-Hill printings appeared under the same 1964 date, rely on the copyright-page printing statement (absent on the first) and the priced first-state pictorial jacket to separate first from subsequent printings.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man* by Marshall McLuhan a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/understanding-media-the-extensions-of-man
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.