The Ginger Man

First Draft and Notes, early 1950s

Courtesy of the JP Donleavy Archives. Special thanks to JPD and Bill Dunn (archivist) for the photos. Pages contain the comments of the first man to read The Ginger Man -- Brendan Behan.

Larger Cover Shot | Contents Shot -- All photography copyright Bill Dunn 2007

The Ginger Man

Wraps | Olympia Press, Paris 1955 - 353 pages

True first edition and first unexpurgated edition .Total run of this edition not know, but Olympia typically printed short runs. Older copies have imprinted prices on back and no other markings. Newer copies have a price increase rubber stamped over the original price. All are scarce in VG or better condition.

The Ginger Man

Cloth | Neville Spearman, London 1956 - 292 pages
 
1st UK and first hardcover edition, expurgated by Donleavy to meet British censorship standards. Differs from later printings by having a blank, white back on the dust jacket. All Spearman editions have an introduction by Arland Ussher.

To purchase books by J.P. Donleavy, go to the Buyers' Guide.

The Ginger Man

Cloth | Neville Spearman, London 1957 - 292 pages

2nd Spearman printing. Back of dust jacket contains a grainy photo of Donleavy and several favorable review blurbs.

The Ginger Man

Cloth | The Olympia Press, Paris 1958 - 382  pages
 
To compete with the Spearman edition in the UK, Girodias published a slightly expurgated edition of the original version, which contains a diatribe against Donleavy and Spearman on the dust jacket flaps. Donleavy countered with anti-libal action that forced Girodias to remove the original flaps. Only a handful survived, making this variant of the Olympia hardcover edition the rarest of all Ginger Man editions. Click for blowup of original flap text. Thanks to John Baxter, Paris, for providing this scarce original.

The Ginger Man

Cloth | The Olympia Press, Paris 1958 - 382  pages
 
Variant Olympia hardcover edition with "cancels" replacing the original dust jacket flaps. Although most of the (reported) 500-copy run of this variant were destroyed by British customs agents, thinking it the banned edition, some survived. More were discovered years later in a warehouse in Paris. Thanks to John Baxter for this information. Click for blowup of "cancels" text.

The Ginger Man

Cloth | McDowell, Obolensky, New York 1958 - 327 pages
 
First US edition, containing the same introduction and expurgated content of the UK Spearman edition.

The Ginger Man

Cloth | McDowell, Obolensky, New York 1958 - 327 pages

2nd McDowell, Obolensky printing. Other than "second printing" stated on colophon, identical to first printing.

The Ginger Man

Cloth | Astor (an imprint of Astor-Honor), New York 1958 - ISBN 083921037X - 327 pages

First printing of Astor edition. Colophon states that book was printed for McDowel, Oblensky in 1958, but that date doesn't jibe with the history of the imprint. McDowel left McDowel, Oblensky in 1960, the firm then being called Ivan Oblensky. In 1965 Oblensky sold the company which then became Astor-Honor. As there are no other printing dates on any Astor-Honor editions, the books are listed by dates given. Note: the ISBN was applied for long after publication, and is not imprinted on the book.

The Ginger Man

Cloth | George J. McLeoad, Ltd., Toronto, 1958 - 327 pages

Canadian variant of McDowell, Obolensky edition. Very scarce.

The Ginger Man

Cloth | George J. McLeoad, Ltd., Toronto, 1958 - 327 pages

2nd printing of Canadian variant of McDowell, Oblensky edition. Very scarce.

The Ginger Man

Wraps | Honor (an imprint of Astor-Honor), New York, 1958 - ISBN 083925007X - 327 pages

First US paperback edition and first Honor printing, stated to be for McDowell, Oblensky (content and introduction are indeed that of the McDowell, Oblensky editions). Again, legality of this edition is in question and being researched. As with the Astor hardcover edition, the ISBN was issued long after printing and appears nowhere on the book. Scarce edition.

The Ginger Man

Wraps | Honor (an imprint of Astor-Honor), New York, 1958 - ISBN 083925007X - 327 pages

2nd Honor printing. Identical to the first printing but for the printing number on the colophon. Scarce.

En inpiskad gentleman

Wraps | Wahlström & Widstrand, Stockholm, 1958

Swedish translation. Special thanks to Gareth Griffiths for providing cover scan and publisher info.

The Ginger Man

Cloth | Neville Spearman, London, January, 1959 - 292 pages

3rd Spearman printing. Identical to second printing.

Zenzero

Wraps | Feltrnelli, Milano, June, 1959

Italian translation, first printing.

Zenzero

Wraps | Feltrnelli, Milano, September, 1959

Italian translation, Second printing.

The Ginger Man

Wraps | Berkley Medallion, New York, Aug. 1959 - 286 pages
 
First US mass market paperback edition, (expurgated version).

The Ginger Man

Wraps | Berkley Medallion, New York, 1959 - 286 pages
 
2nd Berkley printing.

The Ginger Man

Cloth | Astor (an imprint of Astor-Honor), New York 1959 - ISBN 083921037X - 327 pages

2nd. Astor printing. As with first printing, ISBN was applied for after publication and is not imprinted on the book.

The Ginger Man

Cloth | Astor (an imprint of Astor-Honor), New York 1959 - ISBN 083921037X - 327 pages

3rd. Astor printing. As with first printing, ISBN was applied for after publication and is not imprinted on the book.