The Onion Field

US Delacorte Press (New York, 1973) is the true first, and the census claim is confirmed. Note for cataloguing that this is Wambaugh's work of narrative nonfiction (true crime), not a novel. The first UK edition is Weidenfeld & Nicolson (London, 1974; ISBN 0-297-76734-8), a year later, separately collected as the first British edition. Dell, Delta, and later Orion/Quercus issues are reprints or first-thus, not firsts.