First Love, Last Rites, cover of the Diogenes Verlag, 1982 edition (the Jonathan Cape 1975 cover is not yet photographed)Diogenes Verlag, 1982 cover

Cover of the Diogenes Verlag, 1982 edition of this book. The Jonathan Cape 1975 jacket has not been photographed yet.

First edition Hardback

First Love, Last Rites (1975)

Publisher Jonathan Cape Year 1975 ISBN 9780224010955

Identification points are listed only where two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 28 Oct 2026.

Market value

What decides the price

  • It is the first edition, which is the one collectors want.
  • The original dust jacket carries much of the price for a book of this age; its condition matters as much as the book's.
  • Condition is graded separately for book and jacket, from Fine down to Poor.
Recorded sales
1

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Price history

1 recorded sale

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In short

Quick answer

Who published the First Love, Last Rites first edition?
Jonathan Cape, London, in 1975, in hardback.
Publisher's practice

How Jonathan Cape marked its first editions

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.

  • Cape told H. S. Boutell that it printed "First published" and the year on the back of the title page and added a line such as "Second impression" with its year for each unrevised reprint. The Ahearns' publisher list for ILAB gives the same rule: "First published (Year)" on first editions, with later printings noted.
  • On the Bond novels, a first impression shows the "First Published" statement with no later printings listed beneath it.

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.

Printing by printing

Printings and states

First impression

1975

At a glance

Not yet researched

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.

Notes

The cover image shows this book but may not be this edition or printing.

Questions collectors ask

Frequently asked questions

Who published the First Love, Last Rites first edition?

Jonathan Cape, London, in 1975, in hardback.

Sources

Where these facts come from

  • British National Bibliography, record GB7512297

Points of issue are listed only where at least two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 28 October 2026. Reviewed by Harriet Ellis; read how we check facts.