Tintin Forums

How many editions were there of Cigars of the Pharaoh? According to wikipedia there seems to be three. The following is taken from the synposis of that article:
…Sheik Patrash Pasha … shows one of the Tintin books that he has read … in the first black and white strip, it is Tintin in the Congo; in the second it is Tintin in America; and in the colour version, it is Destination Moon).
Reading the article about the book here on tintinologist.org, I get the impression that the story was only redrawn once:
First published in Le Petit Vingtieme between 8/12 1932 and 8/2 1934.
The book appeared in 1934 (B/W, 124 pages). Redrawn in 1955.

However, according to the wikipedia article the book that the sheik has read are changed twice. I assume that this means that the picture with the Congo book was in Le Petit Vingtieme and picture with the America book was in the 1934 book? If so, is this the only difference between the Le Petit Vingtieme version and the 1934 book?

"Cigars of the Pharaoh" wasn't started in "Petite Vingitieme" until after "Tintin in America" was finished. So "Tintin in Congo" ever was the most recent adventure before "Cigars". I've only heard about two versions of "Cigars", so it seems like someone made a mistake on Wikipedia.

In the black & white version - both PV and book - the sheik was showing the most recent book, i.e. the black & white version of Tintin in America. In the colour version of the book from 1955, this was changed to Tintin in the Congo. However, there are several versions of the colour book with minor changes, like the map and dialogue on page 1 (about an Asian trip in some versions and a Mediterrean trip in others) and an early edition mistake on page 52 where Snowy is present by Tintin's side in the palace (although he still was with the Thompsons at that time, so Snowy was removed in later editions). I'm not sure about the chronology, but when some of these changes were made, Tintin in the Congo was also replaced by Destination Moon on page 15.

There are still some inconsistencies left though, like the position of Snowy in the last two panels on page 16 and up-rolled sleeves on Tintin in one of the panels on page 31.

According to the official Tintin.com site, I see 6 different editions.

First edition - 1934
Second edition - 1938
Third edition - 1941
All of the above with the same cover illustration.

Fourth edition - 1942, with a different cover illustration.

Fifth edition - 1955 [First colour editon] with new artwork on the cover.

Sixth edition - 1955 (with revisions).

dr01
There are six different editions.

1. 1934 - original black and white edition.
2. 1938 - removed the Tintin en Orient text from the front cover and added four full-page, full colour panels to the book. The English black and white facsimile is based on this version.
3. 1942 - same as 1938 but new cover artwork.
4. 1955 - reworked into the 62-page colour format. Some scenes are added, others removed. The cover artwork is replaced. The Sheik's book is changed from Tintin in America (black and white) to Tintin in the Congo (colour).
5. 1970 - map on page 1 changed from an Asian journey to a European cruise. The Sheik now owns Destination Moon.
6. 1983 - map on page 1 changed back to an Asian journey but uses a new drawing. The English text isn't updated, which leads to an anomaly where Tintin describes a different journey to that shown on the map. This isn't fixed until the mid-00s.

This version isn't just reworked, it's completely redrawn

Mikael Uhlin
Yes, true, just like Congo, America and the first four pages of colour Lotus, which I think correspond to the first eleven pages or so of the black and white version.