Identification points are listed only where two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 28 Oct 2026.
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First UK edition: New English Library, London, 1974. UK first is the New English Library hardback, ISBN 0450021378, 1974. Doubleday 1973 is the US first. The 1978 Hodder record is a later reissue (Hodder owned NEL).
NEL grew out of two paperback firms and later ran as a mass-market imprint, so many NEL books are paperbacks. Where a work first appeared abroad, an NEL copy is at best the first British edition, so check where and when the work was first published.
Read the full guide to New English Library 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.
New English Library, London, in 1974.
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.
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 →