The Fifth Head of Cerberus (1972) Signed First Edition Reference

The Fifth Head of Cerberus is where Gene Wolfe became Gene Wolfe. Published in 1972, this triptych of interconnected novellas set on the twin planets of Sainte Anne and Sainte Croix introduces virtually every theme and technique that would define Wolfe’s career: unreliable narration, colonial guilt, the fluid nature of identity, and narratives that conceal as much as they reveal. The three novellas — each written in a different style — tell overlapping stories about cloning, aboriginal shapeshifters, and the erasure of indigenous cultures by colonizers.

The Book

The first novella, which gives the book its title, is a memoir of growing up in a brothel run by a scientist obsessed with cloning. The second, “A Story,” is an anthropological fable about the aboriginal inhabitants of Sainte Anne. The third, “‘V.R.T.’,” is a prison narrative composed of journal entries and interrogation transcripts. Together, they create a puzzle that scholars have been debating for fifty years.

First Edition Identification

Publisher: Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York Publication date: 1972 Format: Hardcover in dust jacket

Scribner’s first edition with distinctive dust jacket design. Small printing for a literary science fiction work.

Signed Copy Market Values

• Signed first edition, fine/fine: $500–$1,500
• Unsigned first edition: $100–$300

One of the most important science fiction books of the 1970s. The complexity of the text and its foundational status in Wolfe’s bibliography make signed copies highly desirable. This is the book that readers who are “not yet Wolfe fans” should read first, which gives it a gateway function that sustains demand.