Identification points are listed only where two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 3 Nov 2026.
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The true first is the Chatto & Windus hardback, London 1958, Iris Murdoch's fourth novel; Wikipedia gives 319 pages. Viking Press published the American first in New York the same year (342 pages, 21 cm). The first paperback is Penguin, issued in association with Chatto & Windus in 1962 (315 pages, copyright 1958), followed by Triad/Panther (St Albans, 1976) and Vintage (2004). Chatto's Collected Edition of 1984 (ISBN 0-7011-2768-6, 320 pages) is a later hardback reissue. A first is pre-ISBN, dated 1958, and shows no later impression on the verso.
Read the full guide to Chatto & Windus 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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Chatto & Windus, London, in 1958, 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.
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 …
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