First impression
1984At a glance
Points of issue
- Dust jacket, front flapPrinted price on the front flap: £8.95 net→ first issue jacket
First edition
Hardback
Small World (1984)
Identification points are listed only where two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 22 Oct 2026.
Market value
What decides the price
- It is the first edition, which is the one collectors want.
- The first printing is told from later ones by 1 point of issue listed below.
- 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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Quick answer
- How do I identify a Small World first edition?
- Check these points. Dust jacket, front flap: Printed price on the front flap: £8.95 net. Each point is confirmed by at least two independent sources.
- Who published the Small World first edition?
- Secker & Warburg, London, in 1984, in hardback.
How to identify this edition
First published by Secker & Warburg in London in 1984, ISBN 0 436 25663 0, 339 pages. The book has green boards with gilt lettering on the spine and a pictorial dust jacket illustrated by Wendy Edelson, with £8.95 net printed on the front flap. It was shortlisted for the 1984 Booker Prize and reprinted, so check the copyright page for any later impression and prefer an unclipped jacket.
How Secker & Warburg marked its first editions
- First-impression copies of Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) are bound in green cloth and are found in either a red or a green dust jacket.
Read the full guide to Secker & Warburg 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
Frequently asked questions
How do I identify a Small World first edition?
Check these points. Dust jacket, front flap: Printed price on the front flap: £8.95 net. Each point is confirmed by at least two independent sources.
Who published the Small World first edition?
Secker & Warburg, London, in 1984, in hardback.
Where these facts come from
- British National Bibliography, record GB8402529
- Small World: An Academic Romance, Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
- Small world (Secker & Warburg, 1984), Open Library (openlibrary.org)
- Campus Trilogy, Ashton Rare Books, AbeBooks (abebooks.co.uk)
- Small World, ShiroBooks, AbeBooks (abebooks.co.uk)
- Small World, Shapero Rare Books, AbeBooks (abebooks.co.uk)
Points of issue are listed only where at least two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 22 October 2026. Reviewed by Harriet Ellis; read how we check facts.
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