Identification points are listed only where two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 21 Oct 2026.
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We value a printing from verified sales of that exact printing, and none of the first impression has come to auction in our records so far. The chart and the value by condition appear here as soon as one does.
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Alfred A. Knopf of New York published the first edition in August 1978. The first UK edition is Macmillan's London edition of 1979, ISBN 0 333 19752 6, which one library catalogues as the first trade edition. It runs to 677 pages with illustrations and maps, and has coloured maps printed on the lining papers. Wikipedia notes that every edition so far reprints the same text and pagination, so the imprint and date are what count: look for Macmillan, London, 1979. The Ballantine paperback of September 1979 is American and is not a UK first.
Read the full guide to Macmillan first editions, decade by decade, and check your copy's copyright page against it. Our number line decoder reads the printing from the row of numbers.
We have not yet confirmed the issue points that tell this first impression from later ones. Until we do, compare your copy's title page and copyright page with the publisher, place and year above: any later printing or edition statement means it is not this one.
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Macmillan, London, in 1979, in hardback.
Points of issue are listed only where at least two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 21 October 2026. Reviewed by Harriet Ellis; read how we check facts.
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Read the guide →7 min readTo identify a first edition, check that your copy is the first printing of the first edition. Read the copyright …
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