Identification points are listed only where two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 30 Oct 2026.
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The first is the Orion hardback in dust jacket, London, 1998, ISBN 0 7528 1447 8, published on 28 August 1998; library and dealer records give 488 pages (Wikipedia's 608 is not borne out). Orion also issued a 1998 softcover under a separate ISBN, 0 7528 2156 3, which is not the first issue. Check the imprint page for any later impression line, as many hardbacks offered are reprints. The Oprah's Book Club selection relates to later US printings.
What a collector should know first: Orion did not exist before 1991. Any book dated earlier that is listed under the group name belongs to one of the firms Orion later bought, or is a later Orion reissue of an older book, so read the imprint on the title page before anything else.
Read the full guide to Orion Publishing Group 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.
Orion Publishing Group, London, in 1998, in hardback.
Points of issue are listed only where at least two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 30 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 →