Identification points are listed only where two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 3 Nov 2026.
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Sayers's first novel, which introduced Lord Peter Wimsey, came out first in New York from Boni and Liveright in 1923; the first English edition is the T. Fisher Unwin, London, issue of the same year, an octavo of 287 pages in publisher's cloth. Copies are recorded in both blue and red cloth. Christie's cites it as Gilbert A3bI (the American first is A3aI). Unwin copies are often offered with facsimile jackets, so judge any jacket carefully. The Gollancz reissue of 1935, with a new preface giving a short life of Wimsey, and later Gollancz printings are not firsts.
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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T. Fisher Unwin, London, in 1923, in hardback.
Points of issue are listed only where at least two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 3 November 2026. Reviewed by Harriet Ellis; read how we check facts.
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