Identification points are listed only where two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 21 Oct 2026.
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Alfred A. Knopf of New York published the novel first, in May 1975. Jonathan Cape's London hardback of the same year (ISBN 0 224 01189 8) is the first British edition. It is bound in brown boards (dealers say light, mid or plain brown) with gilt titles on the spine, and it came in a pictorial dust jacket designed by Leigh Taylor. Dealers separate first impressions from reprints, so check the copyright page for a later impression notice. The Knopf edition is a separate American book with its own ISBN (0 394 49401 6).
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.
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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Jonathan Cape, London, in 1975, in hardback.
Points of issue are listed only where at least two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 21 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 …
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