John Silence — Physician Extraordinary

The precedence claim is confirmed: the UK Eveleigh Nash edition of 1908 is the true first. The first American edition followed from John W. Luce & Company, Boston, in 1909; it is separately collected as the first US but is subsequent to the London printing and is not the first edition. One caution on the census note: the 'promoted on London buses' detail could not be corroborated in any bibliographic or dealer source — an aggressive Nash advertising campaign is generally documented, but the specific bus-poster anecdote should not be published as fact and is not an identification point in any case.