Identification points are listed only where two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 20 Oct 2026.
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The Cape hardback of 1998 is the true first; the novel won the Booker Prize that year. Eton College Library records ISBN 0224051709, [8] plus 178 pages, half-title, black cloth with silver spine lettering, in a dust jacket. The jacket matters most. The first state jacket carries no Booker wording; Eton holds two later jackets, one adding 'Shortlisted for the 1998 Booker Prize' and one 'Winner of the 1998 Booker Prize'. A first printing in a later jacket is still a first printing, but the first state jacket is preferred. Unclipped jackets show £14.99. Vintage paperbacks are not firsts.
Check these points. Dust jacket, front panel: no mention of the Booker Prize; later jackets add a 'Shortlisted' line and then a 'Winner' line. Dust jacket, front flap: Printed price on the front flap: £14.99. Each point is confirmed by at least two independent sources.
Jonathan Cape, London, in 1998, in hardback.
Points of issue are listed only where at least two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 20 October 2026. Reviewed by Harriet Ellis; read how we check facts.
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