Orion Publishing Group is a London publisher founded in 1991 that took in Weidenfeld & Nicolson and Gollancz and has been wholly owned by Hachette since 2003. Modern Orion firsts carry a number line including 1.
Orion Publishing Group is a publisher based in London, founded in 1991. We track 442 editions it published between 1936 and 2025, 111 of them first editions across 440 books. How Orion Publishing Group marked its first editions is set out below, with a checker for the year on your title page.
About Orion Publishing Group
Orion Publishing Group is a London trade publisher founded in 1991 by Anthony Cheetham and Rosemary Cheetham and now owned by Hachette.
One of its earliest acquisitions was the literary house Weidenfeld & Nicolson (1991 or 1992; Wikipedia pages differ). In December 1998 Orion bought Cassell and with it Victor Gollancz Ltd, which had passed from Houghton Mifflin to Cassell in 1992; within the enlarged group Gollancz became the science fiction and fantasy imprint. Hachette Livre took a majority stake in the late 1990s and has been its sole owner since 2003.
Its imprints include Gollancz, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, Orion Fiction, Phoenix, Seven Dials, Trapeze, White Rabbit and Laurence King Publishing, while Orion Children's Books now belongs to Hachette Children's Group. Authors on its list include Ian Rankin and Michael Connelly.
Because Orion absorbed older firms, many books found under its name in catalogues were first issued by Gollancz or Weidenfeld & Nicolson before Orion existed, so the imprint and date on the title page matter more than the group name.
Holding a copy? The first edition checker shows Orion Publishing Group's practice for the year on your title page.
Identification
How to identify Orion Publishing Group first editions
What to look for
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.
Before 1991
Books of this period were published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson, Victor Gollancz or Cassell, all of which came into Orion in the 1990s; judge them by that house's own practice, not Orion's.
UNVERIFIED: Weidenfeld & Nicolson and Gollancz first editions show the correct year with no later printings mentioned, and Gollancz used a "First published in [year]" statement on the copyright page from 1984.
From 1991
A copy with a number line that includes 1 is a first printing; the lowest number present gives the printing, so a line starting at 2 or higher is a later impression. Dealers routinely describe Orion firsts by a full number line on the copyright page.
A first printing has no "Reprinted" or later impression line on the copyright page.
UNVERIFIED: the copyright page carries a statement in the form "First published in Great Britain in [year] by Orion".
UNVERIFIED: Orion sets the line in alternating order, 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2, and later impressions drop the low numbers from the ends (for example 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 for a fourth printing).
Orion's own paperback editions that follow a hardback are firsts of that format ("first thus"), not first editions, even with a full number line.
Book club copies are reprints, not firsts; look for a book club mention on the jacket or copyright page.
UNVERIFIED: book club copies typically have no price on the jacket and may carry a small blind stamp at the lower right of the back board, while trade first edition jackets are priced, so an unclipped jacket is preferred.
How do I identify an Orion Publishing Group first edition?
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. Before 1991 - Books of this period were published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson, Victor Gollancz or Cassell, all of which c
How many Orion Publishing Group books does MyVolumes track?
We track 442 editions published by Orion Publishing Group, 111 of them first editions, across 440 books.
