Identification points are listed only where two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 21 Oct 2026.
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The novel appeared in Spanish in 1987, and Margaret Sayers Peden's English translation came out in 1988, ahead of any British issue. Hamish Hamilton published the first British edition in London in 1989: a hardback, ISBN 0 241 12666 5, in black cloth boards lettered in gilt on the spine, with a pictorial dust jacket. Page counts of 272 and 280 are both recorded. Check that the jacket price is not clipped and that no later impression is noted on the copyright page. A Hamish Hamilton advance reading copy in wrappers is also offered and is not the published first issue.
Read the full guide to Hamish Hamilton 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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Hamish Hamilton, London, in 1989, 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 …
Read the guide →