7 Hilary Mantel first editions are documented on this shelf, from Every Day Is Mother's Day (1985) to Bring Up the Bodies (2012) across 4 different publishers. Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that Hilary Mantel 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 Hilary Mantel copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.
- Every Day Is Mother's Day — 1985 · Chatto & WindusFirst UK hardcover, Chatto & Windus / The Hogarth Press, 1985, stating 'First published 1985'. Mantel's debut novel, issued in cloth lettered in gilt with dust jacket. Scarce in jacket, particularly pre-Wolf Hall fame. The UK Chatto & Windus 1985 hardcover is the true first; the US first was delayed to Henry Holt in 2000, so the UK strongly precedes. No notable book-club edition; post-2009 reprints following her later fame are common.
- Vacant Possession — 1986 · Chatto & WindusStates 'First published 1986' by Chatto & Windus on the copyright page. Original green cloth, spine lettered in gilt, in a priced dust jacket. Mantel's second novel, a sequel to her debut Every Day Is Mother's Day. UK Chatto & Windus (1986) is the true first. The US Holt edition came much later (2000). The UK strongly precedes. No notable book-club edition.
- Eight Months on Ghazzah Street — 1988 · VikingFirst edition, first printing, published by Viking in 1988, with the copyright page stating 'First published 1988' and carrying no later-printing or reprint statement. Octavo, roughly 298 to 299 pages, bound in black faux-cloth boards with red lettering stamped to the spine, ISBN 0670821179, issued in the publisher's pictorial dust jacket. The jacket should retain the printed cover price and is desirable…. UK Viking (1988) is the true first. The US St. Martin's/Holt edition came later (1997), so the UK edition precedes. No notable book-club edition. First-printing status rests on the 'First published 1988' statement with no added impression line on the copyright page.
- Fludd — 1989 · VikingStates 'First published 1989' by Viking on the copyright page. Cloth boards in a priced dust jacket. Won the Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize and the Cheltenham Prize. UK Viking (1989) is the true first. The US Holt edition came much later (2000). The UK strongly precedes. No notable book-club edition.
- A Place of Greater Safety — 1992 · VikingLondon: Viking, 1992. Copyright page reads first published by Viking 1992, with an intact number line on the first impression; original black cloth lettered in silver to the spine. The UK Viking 1992 edition precedes the US Atheneum edition of 1993. Note that first-issue jackets appear with export prices in other currencies, so jacket currency is not a reliable point of issue. The UK Viking 1992 edition is the true first; the US Atheneum (1993) is a first-thus. Mantel's large French Revolution novel, written early in her career but published after several later works. No book-club edition; distinguish the UK Viking 1992 first from the later US printing.
- Wolf Hall — 2009 · Fourth EstateFourth Estate, London, 2009, octavo of 653 pages, bound in publisher's black boards with the spine lettered in gilt, and with colour-illustrated endpapers reproducing a chess treatise (Luca Pacioli's De Ludo Scachorum). The first printing shows the full number line ending in 1 on the copyright page. The crucial first-state jacket point: because the novel was published before it won the Booker Prize, the true…. Fourth Estate London 2009 is the true first; the Henry Holt / John Macrae New York 2009 edition is the first US and does not precede it. The most desirable state is the first printing in the pre-Booker first-state jacket; signed firsts are especially sought. A number line not ending in 1, or a jacket bearing the 'Winner of the 2009 MAN Booker Prize' banner, indicates a later printing. The US edition carries the Henry Holt imprint. Book-club and later trade copies lack the priced pre-Booker Fourth Estate first-state jacket.
- Bring Up the Bodies — 2012 · Fourth EstateFirst UK edition, Fourth Estate, London, 2012. Copyright page states first publication in Great Britain in 2012 by Fourth Estate, with the number line descending to 1 on the first printing; original boards and dust jacket. 2012 Booker Prize winner (Mantel's second; second volume of the Cromwell trilogy). A signed limited issue of 1,000 copies, signed on the title page, was also produced. The UK Fourth Estate edition is the true first; the US Henry Holt edition (2012) followed. A signed limited UK issue was also produced. Later impressions are stated as such and some carry a Booker prize band; the US Henry Holt edition is US-priced. The first printing is identified by the number line descending to 1.
More Literary Fiction (US) & Award Winners shelves: Hunter S. Thompson, Iain Banks, Iain M. Banks, Ian McEwan, Iris Murdoch, Irma S. Rombauer.
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