Another edition's cover
Cover of another edition of this book. The Jonathan Cape 1990 jacket has not been photographed yet.
Identification points are listed only where two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 21 Oct 2026.
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The first edition was published by Jonathan Cape in London on 3 September 1990 (ISBN 0224027867), illustrated by Quentin Blake: a short octavo hardback of about 62 pages in a pictorial jacket with Blake's artwork. It was the last of Dahl's books published in his lifetime. Viking's American hardback of the same year is a separate edition, and Puffin paperbacks, including those with the 2023 text changes, are later.
A Jonathan Cape first impression carries "First published" with the year on the back of the title page and nothing else, because Cape recorded every later impression in the same place.
Read the full guide to Jonathan Cape 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.
Know the points? Tell us. We publish them, with credit, once a second source agrees.
The cover image shows this book but may not be this edition or printing.
Jonathan Cape, London, in 1990, 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.
For most books published since the 1920s, the original dust jacket carries a large share of the value, often most …
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 …
Read the guide →6 min readBook condition grading uses a six-step trade scale: Fine, Near Fine, Very Good, Good, Fair and Poor. Collectors grade the …
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