Isabel Allende First Editions

• The House of the Spirits — 1985 · Alfred A. Knopf, New YorkFirst US/first English edition, Alfred A. Knopf, 1985 (published April 12, 1985), cloth in dust jacket. Translated by Magda Bogin (not Margaret Sayers Peden, who translated Allende's later titles). A recognized first-printing point of issue is on page 147, where the first state shows a defective line break (an incomplete line 11); later printings correct this. First printing otherwise per Knopf practice (no later…. True first is the Spanish La casa de los espiritus (Plaza & Janes, Barcelona, 1982). The 1985 Knopf is the first English-language edition; a UK Jonathan Cape edition also appeared in 1985, but the US Knopf is generally cited as the first edition in English. Book-club issues exist for this title and are distinguished by a blind-stamp on the rear board, smaller bulk/cheaper paper, and absence of a jacket price; the Knopf trade first carries the priced jacket and shows the page 147 point. Later Bantam paperbacks are reprints.
• Of Love and Shadows — 1987 · Alfred A. Knopf, New YorkFirst US/first English edition, Alfred A. Knopf, 1987, cloth in dust jacket. Quarter cloth over paper boards with gilt spine lettering. Translation by Margaret Sayers Peden of De amor y de sombra; first printing per Knopf practice (no later printing statement on the copyright page). Signed copies exist. True first is the Spanish De amor y de sombra (Plaza & Janes, Barcelona, 1984). The 1987 Knopf is the first edition in English. A book-club issue is possible; distinguish by blind-stamp on the rear board and a jacket lacking the printed price. Later paperbacks are reprints.
• Eva Luna — 1988 · Alfred A. Knopf, New YorkFirst US/first English edition, Alfred A. Knopf, 1988, cloth in dust jacket. Translation by Margaret Sayers Peden; first American trade edition, first printing per Knopf practice (no later printing statement). Signed copies exist. True first is the Spanish Eva Luna (Plaza & Janes, Barcelona, 1987). The 1988 Knopf is the first edition in English. A book-club issue is possible; distinguish by blind-stamp and an unpriced jacket. Later paperbacks are reprints.
• The Stories of Eva Luna — 1991 · AtheneumUS Atheneum 1991 hardcover, stated First American Edition on the copyright page; translated from the Spanish by Margaret Sayers Peden. The first-issue dust jacket carries the jacket illustration by Alicia Czechowski and should retain its printed price. First English translation of Cuentos de Eva Luna (1989), a story collection. Note the US publisher for this title was Atheneum, distinct from the HarperCollins/other imprints used for adjacent Allende titles. A separate book-club printing exists, but no distinctive blind-stamp point could be verified; identify the trade first by the Atheneum imprint and the stated First American Edition, and by the presence of the printed price on the Czechowski-illustrated jacket.
• The Infinite Plan — 1993 · HarperCollinsUS HarperCollins 1993 hardcover, stated first HarperCollins edition with a complete number line ending in 1 on the copyright page. Translated from the Spanish by Margaret Sayers Peden; about 382 pages. Bound in violet cloth-effect paper-covered boards lettered in gold foil on the spine, and issued in a color-illustrated pictorial dust jacket which should carry its printed price on the front flap. First English-language edition of El plan infinito (Spanish first, 1991). The US HarperCollins issue appeared in 1993 with Peden's translation; a UK HarperCollins edition (0002241919 / 9780002241915) also appeared, so identify by imprint and number line. No notable book-club edition.
• Paula — 1995 · HarperCollinsHarperCollins (New York), 1995, stated first edition with a number line descending to 1 on the copyright page; translated from the Spanish by Margaret Sayers Peden. ISBN 0060172533 / 9780060172534. The dust jacket should retain its printed price on the front flap (unclipped). First English-language edition of the 1994 Spanish memoir Paula. The US HarperCollins 1995 hardcover is the first appearance in English. No notable book-club edition.
• Aphrodite: A Memoir of the Senses — 1998 · HarperFlamingoFirst US edition published by HarperFlamingo (HarperCollins), New York, 1998; illustrated by Robert Shekter with recipes by Panchita Llona; translated by Margaret Sayers Peden. A true first has the HarperFlamingo imprint on the title page and a number line running down to 1 with no later-printing statement. First English-language edition of Afrodita (originally published in Spanish, 1997). No notable book-club edition affecting the first printing.
• Daughter of Fortune — 1999 · HarperCollinsFirst US edition published by HarperCollins, New York, 1999; translated by Margaret Sayers Peden. A true first shows the HarperCollins imprint and a complete number line ending in 1 with no stated later printing. First English-language edition (1999) of Hija de la fortuna, which was first published in Spanish in 1998 by Plaza & Janes. No notable book-club edition affecting the first printing.
• Portrait in Sepia — 2001 · HarperCollinsFirst US edition published by HarperCollins, New York, 2001; translated by Margaret Sayers Peden; includes a genealogical table. A true first shows the HarperCollins imprint and a complete number line ending in 1. First English-language edition of Retrato en sepia (originally published in Spanish, 2000). No notable book-club edition affecting the first printing.
• City of the Beasts — 2002 · HarperCollinsFirst US edition published by HarperCollins, New York, 2002; translated by Margaret Sayers Peden. A true first shows the HarperCollins imprint and a complete number line ending in 1. The UK Flamingo edition also appeared in 2002. First English-language edition of La ciudad de las bestias (originally published in Spanish, 2002); Allende's first young-adult novel and first of a trilogy. No notable book-club edition affecting the first printing.
• My Invented Country — 2003 · HarperCollinsFirst US edition published by HarperCollins, New York, 2003 (ISBN 0-06-054567-4); translated by Margaret Sayers Peden; a memoir. A true US first shows the HarperCollins imprint and a complete number line ending in 1. Published the same year in the UK by Flamingo, HarperCollins's UK imprint (ISBN 0-00-716311-8). First English-language edition of the Spanish 'Mi país inventado' (2003). The US HarperCollins and UK Flamingo editions both appeared in 2003; sources do not establish which month-level printing preceded the other, so neither can be asserted as the single true first over the other. No notable book-club edition affecting the first printing.
• Kingdom of the Golden Dragon — 2004 · HarperCollinsFirst English-language edition, published New York: HarperCollins, 2004; translated from the Spanish by Margaret Sayers Peden, 437 pages. A true first shows the HarperCollins imprint and a complete number line ending in 1 on the copyright page. Bound in dark plum boards with a black paper-stock spine stamped in gold, with maroon endpapers, in a priced, unclipped jacket. US ISBN 9780060589424. First English-language edition (2004) of El reino del dragon de oro, first published in Spanish in 2003; the second book of Allende's young-adult trilogy. The UK Flamingo edition appeared alongside the US HarperCollins printing. No notable book-club edition affecting the first printing.
• Forest of the Pygmies — 2005 · HarperCollinsUS HarperCollins first edition of 2005, identified by a complete number line ending in 1 on the copyright page. Translated from the Spanish by Margaret Sayers Peden. Issued in cloth-backed boards with a pictorial dust jacket; a first-issue jacket should retain its printed price to the front flap. First English-language edition of El bosque de los pigmeos (2004); third book in the Memories of the Eagle and the Jaguar young-adult trilogy, following City of the Beasts and Kingdom of the Golden Dragon. The US HarperCollins edition is the true first in English. No notable book-club edition affecting the first-edition identification; later printings advance the number line so that it no longer terminates in 1.
• Zorro — 2005 · HarperCollinsUS HarperCollins first edition of 2005 (ISBN 0-06-077897-0 / 9780060778972), identified by a complete descending number line ending in 1 on the copyright page. Translated from the Spanish by Margaret Sayers Peden. The volume is an octavo of 384 pages bound in black quarter cloth over red boards, stamped in silver on the spine, with the page fore-edges left uncut (deckle-style). The first-issue pictorial dust…. First English-language edition of El Zorro: Comienza la leyenda (2005). The US HarperCollins edition, published in May 2005 in the Peden translation, is the true first in English; the UK HarperCollins printing appeared the same year. No notable book-club edition affecting the first-edition identification. Watch for later printings whose number line no longer runs down to 1.
• Inés of My Soul — 2006 · HarperCollinsUS HarperCollins first edition of 2006, identified by a complete number line ending in 1 on the copyright page. Translated from the Spanish by Margaret Sayers Peden. Bound in tan paper-covered boards over a black cloth spine with gilt spine lettering, the text block with deckled fore-edges; issued in a pictorial dust jacket that should retain its printed price to the front flap. First English-language edition of Inés del alma mía (2006). The US HarperCollins edition is the true first in English; a UK Fourth Estate edition followed. No notable book-club edition affecting the first-edition identification; later printings advance the number line off 1.
• The Sum of Our Days — 2008 · HarperCollinsUS HarperCollins first edition of 2008 (ISBN 978-0-06-155183-3), translated from the Spanish by Margaret Sayers Peden, with a full number line ending in 1 on the copyright page. Issued in cloth-backed boards in a pictorial dust jacket whose front flap retains its printed price (unclipped on a correct first-issue example). First English-language edition of the memoir La suma de los días (2007). Both the US HarperCollins edition and the UK Fourth Estate edition appeared in 2008; the US HarperCollins edition is treated as the true first in English and was in review circulation (Kirkus) by early 2008. No notable book-club edition affects the first-edition identification. The UK Fourth Estate edition (ISBN 978-0-00-726948-8) is a separate simultaneous English printing rather than a book-club issue.
• Island Beneath the Sea — 2010 · HarperCollinsUS HarperCollins first edition, published April 27, 2010, with a full number line ending in 1 on the copyright page and the printed price present on the priced jacket flap. Translated from the Spanish by Margaret Sayers Peden. First English-language edition of La isla bajo el mar (2009). The US HarperCollins hardcover (April 2010) and the UK Fourth Estate hardcover both appeared in 2010; the US HarperCollins edition is generally treated as the first in English, identified by its complete number line to 1. No notable book-club edition affects the first-edition identification; a UK Fourth Estate edition of the same year is a separate first thus, distinguished by its own ISBN and imprint rather than being a later printing of the US book.
• Maya's Notebook — 2013 · HarperCollinsUS HarperCollins first edition of 2013 (ISBN 978-0-06-210562-2), with a full descending number line ending in 1 on the copyright page and the stated 'FIRST EDITION' line; issued in a dust jacket that should retain its printed price. Translated from the Spanish by Anne McLean, not Margaret Sayers Peden. First English-language edition of El cuaderno de Maya (Barcelona, 2011). The US HarperCollins edition (ISBN 978-0-06-210562-2) is the true first in English; the HarperCollins Canada issue (ISBN 978-1-44341-329-9), also translated by Anne McLean, is a separate simultaneous English printing and not the US first. No notable book-club edition affecting first-edition identification; confirm the US HarperCollins ISBN and the number line ending in 1 rather than relying on the Canadian or UK Fourth Estate issues.
• Ripper — 2014 · HarperCollinsFirst English-language edition, published by Harper (HarperCollins), New York, 2014; first printing has the number line ending in 1 on the copyright page. Hardcover in dust jacket. The English translation is credited to Ollie Brock (also styled Oliver Brock) and Frank Wynne. The UK edition was issued by Fourth Estate/HarperCollins in 2014 under the same title. First English-language edition of the Spanish novel El juego de Ripper, originally published in Spanish in 2014. The US Harper and UK Fourth Estate editions are near-simultaneous 2014 issues of the same translation. No notable book-club edition.
• The Japanese Lover — 2015 · AtriaUS Atria 2015 first edition, first printing with the number line ending in 1 on the copyright page. English translation by Nick Caistor and Amanda Hopkinson. Note the publisher shift to Atria from Allende's earlier HarperCollins titles. First English-language edition of the Spanish novel El amante japones, originally published in Spanish in 2015. No notable book-club edition.

More Literary Fiction (UK & World) shelves: Italo Calvino, J. M. Coetzee, James Ngugi (Ngugi wa Thiong'o), Javier Marías (trans. Margaret Jull Costa), Jean-Paul Sartre, J.G. Farrell.

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