Skip to main content

First-Edition Identification · David Diop (trans. Anna Moschovakis)

Is My At Night All Blood Is Black a First Edition?

Pushkin Press, 2020

The points of issue

First English edition (translation of the French 'Frere d'ame'): Pushkin Press, London, and Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, both 2020. Each carries a dated 'first published 2020' verso statement. Winner of the 2021 International Booker Prize; Moschovakis translation.

Decode the printer’s key: paste the number line into the decoder · Pushkin Press first-edition guide.

Is this the true first?

The French 'Frere d'ame' (Editions du Seuil, 2018) is the true first of the work. Both 2020 English editions (Pushkin UK and FSG US) are the true firsts in English. The two appeared within weeks of one another in autumn 2020 and exact day-precedence between them is not reliably established, so neither is asserted here as preceding.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Pushkin UK and FSG US firsts are distinguished by imprint and the dated verso statement. A 2021 Pushkin paperback is a later printing. No known book-club edition.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of At Night All Blood Is Black a first edition?

Look for these first-edition points: First English edition (translation of the French 'Frere d'ame'): Pushkin Press, London, and Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, both 2020. Each carries a dated 'first published 2020' verso statement. Winner of the 2021 International Booker Prize; Moschovakis translation.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page for the publisher's first-printing convention and confirm the points above. The French 'Frere d'ame' (Editions du Seuil, 2018) is the true first of the work. Both 2020 English editions (Pushkin UK and FSG US) are the true firsts in English. The two appeared within weeks of one another in autumn 2020 and exact day-precedence between them is not reliably established, so neith

Is the book-club edition the same as the first?

Pushkin UK and FSG US firsts are distinguished by imprint and the dated verso statement. A 2021 Pushkin paperback is a later printing. No known book-club edition.

I have a first edition of At Night All Blood Is Black — what should I do?

If you're clearing books, New Mexico Literacy Project offers free pickup in Albuquerque, any condition, and makes sure collectible copies aren't lost. To sell, see the author's collecting guide. Either way, nothing valuable ends up in a landfill.

Keep identifying