Gene Wolfe First Editions

• The Fifth Head of Cerberus — 1972 · Charles Scribner's SonsThe first printing is identified by the Scribner's house code "A-4.72 [c]" on the copyright page, denoting edition A (first), April 1972. The copyright page also carries "SBN 684-12830-6 (Trade cloth)". Binding is red paper over boards with gilt lettering to the spine; octavo. The dust jacket design is by Nicholas Gaetano and the first-issue jacket is priced at the front flap. Scribner's used this…. The US Scribner's edition (New York, 1972) is the true first, confirming the census claim. The first UK edition followed from Victor Gollancz (London) in 1973, bound in publisher's red cloth with gilt spine lettering and issued in a priced jacket; it is collected as the first British edition but does not have precedence. No book-club issue of the Scribner's first is documented in the sources consulted; the reliable negative tell is simply the absence of "A-4.72 [c]". The main traps are later reprints and "first thus" issues rather than club copies: Quartet (UK paperback), Ace (1976 paperback), and the Orb/Tor trade paperback reissues, the last of which adds an introduction by Brian Evenson and is a different edition entirely.
• The Shadow of the Torturer — 1980 · Simon & SchusterSimon & Schuster, New York, May 1980; Volume One of The Book of the New Sun. First printing is identified by the full number line 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 on the copyright page — note that Simon & Schuster ran ascending lines in this period, so the presence of the '1' at the left end is the test, not a '10' at the right. Octavo, collating [9], 11-303, [1]pp. Bound in quarter grey cloth over blue paper boards, with…. Census claim confirmed. The US Simon & Schuster edition of 1980 is the true first and precedes the first UK edition, Sidgwick & Jackson, London 1981 (ISBN 0-283-98738-3, 304pp, wraparound jacket art by Bruce Pennington). Both are collected: the S&S is the true first, while the Sidgwick & Jackson is reported to have been printed in a small quantity and is sought in its own right — but it does not precede and must…. The Simon & Schuster book-club edition of 1980 is the routine trap and is distinguished in the usual way for the period — the trade edition's number line and the flap price are the positive tests, so a copy lacking the 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 line should be treated as a book-club or later printing; specific blind-stamp and flap-marking details were not confirmed against two independent sources and are therefore not….
• The Claw of the Conciliator — 1981 · Timescape / Simon & SchusterTimescape Books hardcover (a Simon & Schuster imprint); first printing carries a full number line descending to 1 on the copyright page and a priced, unclipped dust jacket. Second volume of The Book of the New Sun. The US Timescape/Simon & Schuster 1981 hardcover is the true first; the UK Sidgwick & Jackson edition is separate. The signed/limited editions of the New Sun volumes are distinct collectible states. Won the 1981 Nebula Award for Best Novel and the 1982 Locus Award. Science Fiction Book Club edition has no price on the jacket, a blind-stamp on the rear board, lacks the trade number line, and uses thinner boards.
• The Sword of the Lictor — 1982 · Timescape Books / Simon & SchusterFirst printings are identified by a complete number line descending to 1 ('10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1') on the copyright page; the presence of the 1 is the point, and there is no separate printing statement to rely on. The publisher's binding is quarter maroon/red cloth over blue paper-covered boards, in the Don Maitz illustrated dust jacket, with the price present at the front flap on an unclipped example (ISBN…. The US Timescape/Simon & Schuster hardcover, New York, is the true first, published January 1982; the UK first is Sidgwick & Jackson, London, May 1982 (ISBN 0-283-98860-6), in a wraparound jacket by Bruce Pennington. Both are collected, and the UK is a genuinely scarce book in its own right, but the US precedes it by roughly four months. The census claim of US precedence is confirmed. No separate book-club printing of the individual Timescape volume was documented in the sources consulted. Beware 'first thus' omnibus traps rather than club editions: the two-volume Sword & Citadel-style collections and the Science Fiction Book Club one-volume Book of the New Sun omnibus (1998) reprint this text and are not the first. Timescape/Pocket also issued a paperback, which is not the first edition.
• The Citadel of the Autarch — 1983 · Timescape Books / Simon & SchusterFirst printings carry the full number line beginning/ending in 1 on the copyright page ('10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1'); an ABAA description of a confirmed first states the point as a 'full number line beginning in 1', and there is no separate printing statement. The binding is quarter black cloth with gold/golden paper over boards, roughly 5-the printed price x 8-the printed price inches, 317 pages plus the appendix, in…. The US Timescape/Simon & Schuster hardcover, New York, is the true first, published January 1983; the UK first is Sidgwick & Jackson, London, March 1983 (ISBN 0-283-98943-2). Both are collected; the US precedes by about two months, and Wikipedia's record likewise gives the country of first publication as the United States with the Timescape ISBN. The census claim of US precedence is confirmed; this volume…. No separate book-club printing of the individual Timescape volume was documented in the sources consulted. The 'first thus' traps are the omnibus collections — the Science Fiction Book Club one-volume Book of the New Sun (1998) and later two-volume gatherings — plus the Timescape/Pocket paperback, none of which are the first edition.

More Literary Fiction (US) & Award Winners shelves: Geoff Ryman, George Eliot, George Gissing, George Meredith, George Moore, George Saunders.

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