# Is "Waiting for Godot (En attendant Godot)" by Samuel Beckett a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Waiting for Godot (En attendant Godot) by Samuel Beckett (Les Editions de Minuit, 1952) is identified by: French first edition in printed wrappers, with the 'acheve d'imprimer' dated 1952 in plain Minuit typographic wrappers. The Minuit French 'En attendant Godot' (1952) is the world-first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- French first edition in printed wrappers, with the 'acheve d'imprimer' dated 1952 in plain Minuit typographic wrappers
- This French original is the true world-first; do not conflate it with any English-language edition
- Publisher imprint reads Les Editions de Minuit
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Samuel Beckett |
| Publisher | Les Editions de Minuit |
| Year | 1952 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | French first edition in printed wrappers, with the 'acheve d'imprimer' dated 1952 in plain Minuit typographic wrappers |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
French first edition in printed wrappers, with the 'acheve d'imprimer' dated 1952 in plain Minuit typographic wrappers. This French original is the true world-first; do not conflate it with any English-language edition.

## Is this the true first?
The Minuit French 'En attendant Godot' (1952) is the world-first. For the English text, Beckett's own translation appeared first from Grove Press (New York) in 1954; the Faber and Faber (London) 1956 edition was the first UK publication and used the censored stage text (the unexpurgated UK text did not appear until 1965). So Grove 1954 is the English-language first, Faber 1956 the UK first thus.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later Minuit printings carry higher reprint dates in the acheve d'imprimer. The Grove US and Faber UK English editions are separate collectibles; do not confuse an English-language copy with the French true first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Waiting for Godot (En attendant Godot)* by Samuel Beckett a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/waiting-for-godot-en-attendant-godot
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.