NMLP P-037404 · True-first precedence · minted 2026-07-19
The Left Hand of Darkness
Ursula K. Le Guin · Ace Books (New York) · 1969
The Ace mass-market PAPERBACK is the true first edition and precedes the Walker & Company hardcover (US, 1969) — documented by L.W. Currey (246), who records that the hardcover was preceded the same year by the Ace paperback; the UK hardcover editions are later still. Because it was a paperback original, fine first-printing copies are scarce. The novel won the 1969 Nebula and 1970 Hugo, but a genuine first printing predates those wins and therefore carries NO award banner. The Walker hardcover is routinely miscalled 'the first,' but the paperback holds precedence.
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New Mexico Literacy Project — True-first precedence NMLP P-037404 for "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/id/point/p-037404, CC BY 4.0, dataset DOI 10.5281/zenodo.21184548).