Weidenfeld & Nicolson is a London publisher founded in 1949 by George Weidenfeld and Nigel Nicolson, now part of Hachette's Orion; its firsts carry a "First published" line or no statement, with no reprint lines.
Weidenfeld & Nicolson is a publisher based in London, founded in 1948. We track 174 editions it published between 1952 and 2020, 69 of them first editions across 173 books. How Weidenfeld & Nicolson marked its first editions is set out below, with a checker for the year on your title page.
Weidenfeld & Nicolson is a London publisher founded by George Weidenfeld, who was born in Vienna and moved to London after the Anschluss of 1938, and Nigel Nicolson; the firm was launched in 1949 with a reception at Brown's Hotel, although some accounts date the partnership to 1948. It publishes history, biography, ideas and fiction, and has been part of the Orion Publishing Group, now owned by Hachette, since 1991.
Its early list mixed non-fiction by Isaiah Berlin, Hugh Trevor-Roper and Rose Macaulay with novels by Mary McCarthy and Saul Bellow. In 1959 it published the British edition of Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita, and in 1973 Nicolson's own Portrait of a Marriage, about his parents Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson. It bought Arthur Baker Ltd in 1959 and ran it as an imprint into the 1990s. Later books include the British edition of I Am Malala (2013) by Malala Yousafzai with Christina Lamb.
Weidenfeld & Nicolson was one of Orion's first purchases after that group was formed in 1991, and Hachette Livre bought Orion in 1998. In January 2002 Orion's Cassell imprints, among them Cassell Reference and Cassell Military, were joined with the Weidenfeld imprints in one division under the Weidenfeld & Nicolson name. George Weidenfeld died in London on 20 January 2016, aged 96.
Holding a copy? The first edition checker shows Weidenfeld & Nicolson's practice for the year on your title page.
A Weidenfeld & Nicolson first edition carries either a "First published in (year)" line on the copyright page or no edition statement at all. Later printings are noted on the copyright page.
How to read it
A Weidenfeld & Nicolson first edition carries either a "First published in (year)" line on the copyright page or no edition statement at all. Later printings are noted on the copyright page. How to read it - With or without a "First published" line, a first edition has no reprint or later impression line on the copyright page. - A copy with no edition statement can still be a first edition: the fi
We track 174 editions published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 69 of them first editions, across 173 books.
Every fact on this page was checked against the sources listed. Checked 3 November 2026. Reviewed by Harriet Ellis; read how we check facts.
