Identification points are listed only where two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 20 Oct 2026.
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Candida first appeared in print in Plays: Pleasant and Unpleasant, published by Grant Richards in London in 1898. The work is in two volumes and Candida is in the second, the four Pleasant plays (Arms and the Man, Candida, The Man of Destiny, You Never Can Tell); the first volume holds the three Unpleasant plays. Reprints of 1900 and 1901 have a portrait of Shaw facing the title of volume 1 and carry their own dates on the title page, and the 1901 reprint states that the work was first printed in March 1898, so both title pages must be dated 1898 for a first. Later separate printings of Candida are not the first appearance.
We have not yet confirmed the issue points that tell this first impression from later ones. Until we do, compare your copy's title page and copyright page with the publisher, place and year above: any later printing or edition statement means it is not this one.
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Grant Richards, London, in 1898.
Points of issue are listed only where at least two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 20 October 2026. Reviewed by Harriet Ellis; read how we check facts.
Points of issue are small, documented details, such as a misprint later corrected, a binding colour or a jacket price, …
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