# Is "Agency" by William Gibson a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Agency by William Gibson (Berkley/Penguin, 2020) is identified by: US Berkley (an imprint of Penguin Random House) hardcover, New York, January 2020, identified by a complete descending printer's key on the copyright page ending in 1. The US Berkley edition (January 2020) is the true first; the UK Viking edition follows within the same year.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- US Berkley (an imprint of Penguin Random House) hardcover, New York, January 2020, identified by a complete descending printer's key on the copyright page ending in 1
- Octavo, roughly 400-plus pages; the first-issue dust jacket carries the printed cover price on the front flap (present, not clipped, on a true first-state jacket)
- The UK Viking edition appeared the same year under ISBN 9780241237212
- Publisher imprint reads Berkley/Penguin
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | William Gibson |
| Publisher | Berkley/Penguin |
| Year | 2020 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | US Berkley (an imprint of Penguin Random House) hardcover, New York, January 2020, identified by a complete descending printer's key on the… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
US Berkley (an imprint of Penguin Random House) hardcover, New York, January 2020, identified by a complete descending printer's key on the copyright page ending in 1. Octavo, roughly 400-plus pages; the first-issue dust jacket carries the printed cover price on the front flap (present, not clipped, on a true first-state jacket). The UK Viking edition appeared the same year under ISBN 9780241237212.

## Is this the true first?
The US Berkley edition (January 2020) is the true first; the UK Viking edition follows within the same year. Second volume of the Jackpot sequence, after The Peripheral. Signed copies of both the US and UK issues exist.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Trade hardcover only of note; issued after the ebook. No US book-club edition of consequence. Later printings advance the number line so that 1 no longer appears.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Agency* by William Gibson a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/agency
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.