Identification points are listed only where two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 20 Oct 2026.
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We value a printing from verified sales of that exact printing, and none of the first impression has come to auction in our records so far. The chart and the value by condition appear here as soon as one does.
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Demy octavo hardback of 272 pages published on 15 June 1989 (ISBN 0-575-04463-2), with a pictorial jacket by Josh Kirby. Colin Smythe's bibliography records a first printing of 12,300 copies, six reprints, and a larger 9 by 6 inch reissue in 1997 with a new ISBN (0-575-06484-6). Look for a first printing statement or the absence of any reprint note on the copyright page, and prefer an unclipped jacket. The Guild Publishing (Book Club Associates) edition of 11,500 copies is a book club issue, not the trade first. Smythe also records about 100 proof copies and at least 249 review copies that the publicity department stamped and numbered; both differ from ordinary trade copies. The novel won the BSFA award for best novel.
An older Gollancz first edition is identified by what is missing: later impressions are recorded on the back of the title page, so a copy with no impression line under its first-publication date is the first.
Allen and Patricia Ahearn's publisher list for ILAB says Gollancz made no first edition statement but noted subsequent printings, in the form "First published (year)" followed by "Second impression (year)". Dealers' listings show the same pattern. Two separate sellers of the 1948 reprint of Dilwyn Rees's The Cambridge Murders quote "Second impression (first cheap edition) January 1948" on the verso, one adding that "First published October 1945" is also stated, while the 1945 printing is offered simply as the first edition.
Read the full guide to Gollancz 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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Gollancz, London, in 1989, in hardback.
Points of issue are listed only where at least two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 20 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 →