NMLP P-044778 · True-first precedence · minted 2026-07-19
Bend Sinister
Vladimir Nabokov · Henry Holt and Company (New York) · 1947
US Holt 1947 is the true first. The first British edition did not appear until Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 1960 (in the wake of Lolita), so US precedence is clear. Do not confuse 'first novel written in America' (Bend Sinister) with his first English-language novel overall, The Real Life of Sebastian Knight (New Directions, 1941).
Full identification guide for this title →
New Mexico Literacy Project — True-first precedence NMLP P-044778 for "Bend Sinister" by Vladimir Nabokov (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/id/point/p-044778, CC BY 4.0, dataset DOI 10.5281/zenodo.21184548).