Plaza & Janés, 1988 cover
Cover of the Plaza & Janés, 1988 edition of this book. The Heinemann 1988 jacket has not been photographed yet.
Identification points are listed only where two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 28 Oct 2026.
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Michael Jackson's autobiography was first published by Doubleday in New York in February 1988, edited by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, who also wrote its foreword. The British first is the William Heinemann hardback, London, 1988, ISBN 0 434 37042 8; the British Library records 283 pages and 24 pages of photographic plates. Heinemann reprinted it several times (sixth and seventh printings are offered), so check the copyright page for a first printing, and note whether the jacket price has been clipped. The Mandarin paperback (ISBN 0 7493 0000 0) is a later British edition. Any copy with a Doubleday imprint or ISBN 0 385 24712 5 is the American edition.
Before the 1920s. A first edition carries the year of publication on the title page, under the imprint. Reprints either lose that date or gain a notice such as "Second Edition" or "Second Impression", so a first is a copy with a dated title page and no reprint notice.
From the 1920s. The back of the title page carries a printing history. A first edition reads "First published" followed by the year, with no further lines; each later impression or new edition adds its own dated line beneath it.
Read the full guide to Heinemann 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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The cover image shows this book but may not be this edition or printing.
Heinemann, London, in 1988, in hardback.
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 …
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