# Is "Waugh in Abyssinia" by Evelyn Waugh a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Waugh in Abyssinia by Evelyn Waugh (Longmans, Green, 1936) is identified by: First printing in red cloth, gilt spine, top edge red; reportage of the Italo-Abyssinian war. London Longmans, Green is the true first (1936).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First printing in red cloth, gilt spine, top edge red; reportage of the Italo-Abyssinian war
- A genuine point of issue exists in the dust-jacket front flap: Waugh objected to the publisher's blurb, and Longmans attempted to recall distributed copies and paste a cancel flap over the original; the uncorrected first-state flap is the scarcer form
- Publisher imprint reads Longmans, Green
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Evelyn Waugh |
| Publisher | Longmans, Green |
| Year | 1936 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First printing in red cloth, gilt spine, top edge red; reportage of the Italo-Abyssinian war |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First printing in red cloth, gilt spine, top edge red; reportage of the Italo-Abyssinian war. A genuine point of issue exists in the dust-jacket front flap: Waugh objected to the publisher's blurb, and Longmans attempted to recall distributed copies and paste a cancel flap over the original; the uncorrected first-state flap is the scarcer form.

## Is this the true first?
London Longmans, Green is the true first (1936). A US Longmans, Green issue followed the same year.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Waugh in Abyssinia* by Evelyn Waugh a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/waugh-in-abyssinia
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.