The Immoralist

The French original (Mercure de France, Paris, 1902) is the true first; there is no English edition of 1902 and every English text is a translation issue. The first English translation is Dorothy Bussy's, published in 1930 by Alfred A. Knopf, New York and by Cassell, London in the same year. The census claim that the US precedes the UK is NOT confirmed: both issues are dated 1930, and no source consulted established the month-level order (one dealer gives Knopf as March 1930; no comparable date was located for Cassell). Collectors take the Mercure 1902 as the book itself; the Knopf and Cassell 1930 issues are collected as the first appearance in English and should be treated as parallel until a firm date settles the order.