Hardback

The Book (1969)

Identification points are listed only where two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 20 Oct 2026.

Market value

What decides the price

  • It is the first UK edition; the true first was published elsewhere.
  • 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.

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Sales record

No sales recorded yet

We value a printing from verified sales of that exact printing, and none of the first impression has come to auction in our records so far. The chart and the value by condition appear here as soon as one does.

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In short

Quick answer

Who published The Book 1969 hardback?
Jonathan Cape, London, in 1969, in hardback.
Identification

How to identify this edition

First UK edition: Jonathan Cape, London, 1969. US first Pantheon 1966. OL labels the ISBN Vintage/Ebury (Random House group, Cape's current owner). Our Cape 1971 record has the same ISBN, so likely a reprint.

Publisher's practice

How Jonathan Cape marked its first editions

A Jonathan Cape first impression carries "First published" with the year on the back of the title page and nothing else, because Cape recorded every later impression in the same place.

  • Cape told H. S. Boutell that it printed "First published" and the year on the back of the title page and added a line such as "Second impression" with its year for each unrevised reprint. The Ahearns' publisher list for ILAB gives the same rule: "First published (Year)" on first editions, with later printings noted.
  • On the Bond novels, a first impression shows the "First Published" statement with no later printings listed beneath it.

Read the full guide to Jonathan Cape 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

First impression

1969

At a glance

Not yet researched

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.

Questions collectors ask

Frequently asked questions

Who published The Book 1969 hardback?

Jonathan Cape, London, in 1969, in hardback.

Sources

Where these facts come from

  • British National Bibliography (BNB) record GB6910376, British Library (doi.org)
  • The book on the taboo against knowing who you are, London: Cape, 1969, ISBN 0224615998 (held by Cambridge, KCL, Exeter, NLS, Oxford and others), Jisc Library Hub Discover (discover.libraryhub.jisc.ac.uk)

Points of issue are listed only where at least two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 20 October 2026. Reviewed by Harriet Ellis; read how we check facts.