# Is "The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club" by Dorothy L. Sayers a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy L. Sayers (Ernest Benn, 1928) is identified by: UK Ernest Benn (London, 1928) is the true first, the fourth Lord Peter Wimsey novel, in a first impression of roughly 1,000 copies. UK Ernest Benn 1928 is the true first, with the US Payson & Clarke edition following the same year; the small Benn first impression of about 1,000 copies makes the true first, especially in jacket, notably scarce.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- UK Ernest Benn (London, 1928) is the true first, the fourth Lord Peter Wimsey novel, in a first impression of roughly 1,000 copies
- Bound in black boards lettered and decorated in orange, octavo, 287 pages
- The scarce first-issue dust jacket is buff printed in black and should retain its printed price
- The US edition was published by Payson & Clarke, New York, 1928
- Publisher imprint reads Ernest Benn
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Dorothy L. Sayers |
| Publisher | Ernest Benn |
| Year | 1928 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | UK Ernest Benn (London, 1928) is the true first, the fourth Lord Peter Wimsey novel, in a first impression of roughly 1,000 copies |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
UK Ernest Benn (London, 1928) is the true first, the fourth Lord Peter Wimsey novel, in a first impression of roughly 1,000 copies. Bound in black boards lettered and decorated in orange, octavo, 287 pages. The scarce first-issue dust jacket is buff printed in black and should retain its printed price. The US edition was published by Payson & Clarke, New York, 1928.

## Is this the true first?
UK Ernest Benn 1928 is the true first, with the US Payson & Clarke edition following the same year; the small Benn first impression of about 1,000 copies makes the true first, especially in jacket, notably scarce.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later Benn impressions and subsequent reprints follow the 1928 first; only the first impression carries the original small print run.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club* by Dorothy L. Sayers a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-unpleasantness-at-the-bellona-club
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.