5 Albert Camus first editions are documented on this shelf, from The Myth of Sisyphus (1942) to The Fall (1956) across 3 different publishers. Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that Albert Camus title from later printings and book-club copies — the publisher and year to expect, the number-line or edition-statement conventions, and the tells that show up in online listings.
Identification only, per the house rule: no prices and no appraisals here. Checking a Albert Camus copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.
- The Myth of Sisyphus — 1942 · Editions Gallimard, ParisFrench true first: 'Le Mythe de Sisyphe,' Éditions Gallimard, Paris, 1942 (collection 'Les Essais'), in the standard printed wrappers, identified by the achevé d'imprimer/first-mille printing statement; in Gallimard's usual practice a limited issue on special paper (grand papier) precedes the trade issue. The English translation is by Justin O'Brien. Verify the Gallimard print-run statement to separate the 1942…. The original-language French first (Gallimard, 1942) is the true first. First edition in English is the UK edition — Hamish Hamilton, London, 1955, titled simply 'The Myth of Sisyphus' — in blue cloth lettered in silver; it precedes the first American edition, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, June 1955. Title trap: the Knopf is a separately-titled, expanded book, 'The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays' (adding Essays…. No specific book-club issue tell was documented in the sources consulted. The US 'and Other Essays' text has been much reprinted; later Knopf and Vintage printings are not the June 1955 first American edition.
- The Stranger — 1942 · Éditions Gallimard, ParisFrench true first: L'Étranger, Éditions Gallimard, Paris — printed 21 April 1942, on sale from June 1942. The ordinary edition was 4,400 copies, deliberately divided: 400 service de presse (review) copies, 500 copies with no edition statement, and 3,500 copies carrying FALSE edition statements running from 'deuxième édition' through 'huitième édition' on the lower wrapper — Gallimard split the single printing…. CORRECTION to the census. The French Gallimard 1942 true first is confirmed, but the census claim that 'Knopf is generally given priority' in English is wrong: Hamish Hamilton (London, 1946) published Gilbert's translation FIRST, as The Outsider, and precedes Alfred A. Knopf (New York, 1946). Hamish Hamilton changed Gilbert's title to The Outsider — considering it more striking, and to avoid collision with Maria…. No book-club issue is documented for the 1942 Gallimard. The trap on the French first is the inverse of the usual one — the wrapper 'edition' statements are fictitious and do not demote a copy; judge by the 1942 Gallimard imprint and the April 1942 printing, and note that copies without any edition statement (500) and the service de presse copies (400) are the least-common states. For the English, the reprint….
- The Plague (La Peste) — 1947 · Éditions GallimardFrench first, Gallimard, 1947, in printed wrappers, with the achevé d'imprimer dated May 1947. A tiered grand-papier issue precedes the ordinary trade copies: a small number on Japon imperial, then on Hollande, then 215 numbered copies on vélin pur fil Lafuma-Navarre, ahead of the much larger alfa Navarre printing. The ordinary trade copies carry the 1947 achevé d'imprimer with no later reprint statement; service…. The French Gallimard edition is the true first. It precedes both the UK Hamish Hamilton (1948) and US Knopf (1948) English editions, both in the Stuart Gilbert translation; of the two English issues, Hamish Hamilton precedes Knopf. The distinction between the ordinary alfa trade issue and the earlier numbered grand-papier copies (notably the vélin pur fil) is the key point. Later Gallimard printings show higher mille statements. The Gilbert English translation is not the world first.
- The Rebel — 1951 · Éditions Gallimard, ParisCensus claim confirmed. The true first is L'Homme révolté, Gallimard, Paris, 1951, issued in original wrappers (broché) — no hardcover publisher's binding. Gallimard issued a tirage de tête ahead of the ordinary copies: 45 numbered copies on Hollande (of which 5 are hors commerce), 260 numbered copies on vélin pur fil from the papeteries Lafuma-Navarre, and copies on alfa from the Papeteries du Marais; dealers…. French original-language true first: Gallimard, Paris, 1951 (L'Homme révolté). The first edition in English is Hamish Hamilton, London, 1953 (trans. Anthony Bower, introduction by Sir Herbert Read) — the UK precedes the US. Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1954 is the first American edition and is collected in its own right, but it is not the first in English and must not be catalogued as such. No book-club issue is documented for the Gallimard 1951 or the Hamish Hamilton 1953 in the sources consulted. The Gallimard first is a wrappers issue — any hardcover 1951 copy in leather or half-binding is a later private/collector binding of the sheets, not a publisher's binding, and should be described as such.
- The Fall — 1956 · Editions Gallimard, ParisFrench true first: 'La Chute,' Éditions Gallimard, Paris, 1956, in the standard cream printed wrappers of Gallimard's 'Blanche' series, identified by the edition/printing (achevé d'imprimer) statement of the first mille; in Gallimard's usual hierarchy a small limited issue on special paper (grand papier) precedes the trade wrappered issue. The English translation throughout is by Justin O'Brien. Confirm the…. The original-language French first (Gallimard, 1956) is the true first. In English (O'Brien translation) the UK edition — Hamish Hamilton, London, 1957 — is generally cited as the first English-language edition, later reprints noting 'This translation originally published: London: Hamish Hamilton, 1957'; the first American edition, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, was published 15 June 1957 and follows. Both 1957…. No specific book-club issue tell was documented in the sources consulted. Later Gallimard printings and the many post-1957 English reprints follow the firsts; verify the Gallimard print-run statement and, for the UK/US editions, first-impression status with no later-printing notice.
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