Identification points are listed only where two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 3 Nov 2026.
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In Britain the novel was published as Harlequin, not The Archer's Tale (the American title), by HarperCollins, London, on 16 October 2000. The first edition is the hardback in dust jacket, ISBN 0002259656. Several UK dealers list first impressions of this hardback, often signed or with a signed bookplate; check the copyright page for a first impression and the ISBN above. A 2000 HarperCollins trade paperback (ISBN 9780007109135) also exists and is not the hardback first; later paperbacks carry other ISBNs. Page counts given by dealers (371 to 372) differ from Wikipedia's 384, so do not rely on them.
A first printing from HarperCollins in London, or from one of its British imprints such as Voyager, is identified by a number line on the copyright page that still includes 1.
How to read it
Read the full guide to HarperCollins 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.
HarperCollins, London, in 2000, in hardback.
Points of issue are listed only where at least two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 3 November 2026. Reviewed by Harriet Ellis; read how we check facts.
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