Identification points are listed only where two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 29 Oct 2026.
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The first edition is the Hamish Hamilton hardback, London, 1989, ISBN 0241126959; Open Library dates it September 1989. Library records give 371 pages and 24 cm. It was shortlisted for the 1989 Booker Prize. Penguin paperbacks and tie-ins to the 1995 film are later. None of the sources consulted describes how the first impression is marked.
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 29 October 2026. Reviewed by Harriet Ellis; read how we check facts.
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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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