Titus Groan

Census claim confirmed. The true first is Eyre & Spottiswoode, London, March 1946 (UK reviews run from 22 March 1946). The Reynal & Hitchcock, New York edition of the same year does not precede it — Peake in Print designates it 'Second edition; first American' (A4b). Both editions are collected. The US edition is readily distinguished: greeny-grey cloth 215 x 143mm lettered in red across the spine; title page reading 'Titus / Groan / a gothic novel by / Mervyn / Peake' — the 'a gothic novel' subtitle is US-only, confirming the census note; copyright notice on the title verso naming 'Mervyn Laurence Peake'; the E&S 'Part One: Gormenghast' leaf omitted in favour of a dedication 'For / Maeve' on p.[v], with the Bunyan quotation moved after the contents; a wholly different Peake jacket with a Graham Greene blurb on the front flap and a Derek Sayer photograph of Peake on the back.