6 A.S. Byatt first editions are documented on this shelf, from The Shadow of the Sun (1964) to Angels & Insects (1992) across 2 different publishers. Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that A.S. Byatt title from later printings and book-club copies — the publisher and year to expect, the number-line or edition-statement conventions, and the tells that show up in online listings.
Identification only, per the house rule: no prices and no appraisals here. Checking a A.S. Byatt copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.
- The Shadow of the Sun — 1964 · Chatto & WindusByatt's debut novel. The true first edition of 1964 was published under the title 'Shadow of a Sun' (singular article), not 'The Shadow of the Sun'. Cecil Day-Lewis, then at Chatto & Windus, persuaded Byatt to change her intended title to the more euphonious 'Shadow of a Sun' for publication. First published 1964 by Chatto & Windus in blue cloth with a dust jacket with its printed price Scarce in jacket. UK Chatto & Windus (1964), titled 'Shadow of a Sun', is the true first; the US Harcourt issue followed. UK precedes. The 1991 reissue restored Byatt's originally intended title 'The Shadow of the Sun' and carries a new introduction; it is a 'first thus' reprint, not the first edition. Cataloguers should note the title discrepancy: a book labelled 'The Shadow of the Sun' is the 1991 reissue, while the 1964 first reads 'Shadow of a Sun'.
- The Game — 1967 · Chatto & WindusByatt's second novel, an octavo of roughly 286 pages. First published 1967 by Chatto & Windus (London): red cloth boards with gilt lettering to the spine, issued in the publisher's patterned dust jacket. Scarce. UK Chatto & Windus (1967) is the true first; the US Scribner edition followed, its copyright page bearing the code 'A-2.68' (a February 1968 printing date), so US copies are commonly dated 1968 though some dealers catalogue 1967. UK precedes either way. No notable book-club edition.
- The Virgin in the Garden — 1978 · Chatto & WindusFirst published 1978 by Chatto & Windus, London; the first volume of the Frederica Potter quartet. The UK first is issued in publisher's cloth, gilt-lettered on the spine, in the original laminated pictorial dustwrapper. The jacket should be present and unclipped, with the printed price intact at the lower flap. The UK Chatto & Windus edition (1978) is the true world first. The first American edition followed from Alfred A. Knopf in 1979; the Knopf issue is distinguishable by its blue-gray paper-covered boards with a navy cloth spine and silver lettering, versus the gilt-lettered UK cloth. UK precedes. No notable book-club edition.
- Still Life — 1985 · Chatto & WindusChatto & Windus (London) 1985 is the true first, the second volume of the Frederica quartet after The Virgin in the Garden (1978). The first printing states 'First published 1985' by Chatto & Windus on the verso with no later-impression line; it is bound in black boards with gilt spine lettering, collating 358pp, in the publisher's dust wrapper with the price present at the flap (marked UK-only). No number line…. UK Chatto & Windus (London) 1985 precedes the US Charles Scribner's Sons (New York) 1985 edition, which is the first American edition; both are collected, the Chatto issue being the true first. US Scribner's 1985 is the American first; later printings add an impression statement or number line beneath the 'First published 1985' line.
- Possession — 1990 · Chatto & WindusChatto & Windus, London, 1990 (Booker Prize winner). First edition / first impression is identified by the COPYRIGHT-PAGE STATEMENT, not by a number line: the copyright page reads "Published in 1990 by Chatto & Windus" (first published statement) with NO later-impression line and names the printer as Butler & Tanner. Later impressions (e.g. 5th, 6th impressions of the 1990 Chatto edition exist) add an impression…. Chatto & Windus London 1990 is the true first; Random House New York 1990 is the first US. The UK first is more desirable. Number line not ending in '1' indicates a later printing; US edition carries Random House imprint. Book club editions lack the priced Chatto jacket.
- Angels & Insects — 1992 · Chatto & WindusFirst published 1992 by Chatto & Windus, London; contains two novellas, 'Morpho Eugenia' and 'The Conjugial Angel.' The UK first is a hardcover with a red-tinted top edge and a red ribbon marker, issued in a dust jacket that should retain its printed net price. Octavo. UK Chatto & Windus (1992) is the true first; the US Random House edition appeared the same year. The UK precedes. No notable book-club edition. Do not confuse the UK Chatto first with the US Random House edition, which is bound in blue boards with a gilt-embossed angel on the front board; that decorated binding is not a point of the Chatto & Windus first.
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