# Is "An Artist of the Floating World" by Kazuo Ishiguro a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro (Faber and Faber, 1986) is identified by: Faber & Faber London 1986. Faber London 1986 is the true first; G.P.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Faber & Faber London 1986
- First printing with the number line ending in '1' on the copyright page
- First state carries the printer's imprint of Butler & Tanner Ltd (the later state is printed by Richard Clay)
- Bound in original black boards, backstrip lettered in gilt, with dust jacket bearing its printed price
- UK first precedes the US Putnam 1986 edition
- Publisher imprint reads Faber and Faber
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Kazuo Ishiguro |
| Publisher | Faber and Faber |
| Year | 1986 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Faber & Faber London 1986 |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Faber & Faber London 1986. First printing with the number line ending in '1' on the copyright page. First state carries the printer's imprint of Butler & Tanner Ltd (the later state is printed by Richard Clay). Bound in original black boards, backstrip lettered in gilt, with dust jacket bearing its printed price. UK first precedes the US Putnam 1986 edition.

## Is this the true first?
Faber London 1986 is the true first; G.P. Putnam's Sons New York 1986 is the first US. The first-state Butler & Tanner printing is the preferred copy.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later impressions are shown by the number line and by the Richard Clay printer's imprint of the second state; the US edition is distinguished by the Putnam imprint. Ishiguro's debut 'A Pale View of Hills' (Faber 1982) is scarcer still.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *An Artist of the Floating World* by Kazuo Ishiguro a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/an-artist-of-the-floating-world
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.