First Edition Points and Criteria for Doctor Zhivago (UK)

Year Published: 1958
Author Last Name: Pasternak
Author First Name: Boris
Publisher: Collins and Harvill Press
Original Price: 21s. net
Pages: 510

Doctor Zhivago was first published (in Italian) by Giangiacomo Feltrinelli Editore of Milan, Italy in November of 1957. The first editions in English were translated by Manya Harari and Max Hayward, and were published by Collins and Harvill in the UK and Pantheon in the U.S. The wording on the Pantheon copyright page lists Collins and Harvill as the copyright holder of the English translation, and Pantheon as the copyright holder of authorized revisions to the English translation. The copyright page of the Collins and Harvill first edition makes no mention of Pantheon at all. This suggests that the work was first translated into British English, and then was revised by Pantheon to American English. This assumption make sense because both translators were British. Combine this with the fact that one of the translators, Manya Harari, was one of the co-founder of Collins and Harvill Press, and it becomes clear that Collins and Harvill was the primary publisher of the english edition.

The first UK edition states 1958 on the bottom of the title page, and the copyright page has only six lines (all on the bottom) with no references to first or subsequent impressions. Boards are red cloth with gold lettering on the spine. The first issue dust jacket can be found on first and early impressions (printings) of the first edition. It has a photo of the author on the back panel, a biography of the author on the back flap, and lacks any review blurbs or references to the Nobel Prize.


Picture of the 1958 first edition dust jacket for Doctor Zhivago (UK).


Picture of the first edition copyright page for Doctor Zhivago (UK).


Picture of dust jacket where original 21s. net price is found for Doctor Zhivago (UK).


Picture of the back dust jacket for the first edition of Doctor Zhivago (UK).


Picture of the first edition Collins and Harvill Press boards for Doctor Zhivago (UK).


Picture of the back dust jacket flap for the first edition of Doctor Zhivago (UK).


Picture of the first edition title page for Doctor Zhivago (UK).