NMLP P-045752 · True-first precedence · minted 2026-07-19
The Tale of Genji
Murasaki Shikibu (trans. Arthur Waley) · George Allen & Unwin, London (Waley translation; original is an 11th-century manuscript) · 1925
The true first of the work is the 11th-century manuscript, not collectible in the ordinary sense; for collectors the standard 'first' is the Waley translation — a 'first thus' (first appearance in English). Precedence runs to the London George Allen & Unwin volumes over the concurrent US Houghton Mifflin issues. The 1935 one-volume omnibus is a later 'first thus,' not the first.
Full identification guide for this title →
New Mexico Literacy Project — True-first precedence NMLP P-045752 for "The Tale of Genji" by Murasaki Shikibu (trans. Arthur Waley) (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/id/point/p-045752, CC BY 4.0, dataset DOI 10.5281/zenodo.21184548).