6 Margaret Atwood first editions are documented on this shelf, from The Handmaid's Tale (1985) to The Testaments (2019) across 2 different publishers. Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that Margaret Atwood 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 Margaret Atwood copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.
- The Handmaid's Tale — 1985 · McClelland & StewartMcClelland & Stewart (Toronto) 1985 is the true first, preceding the US Houghton Mifflin 1986 and UK Jonathan Cape 1986. ISBN 0-7710-0813-9, printed and bound in Canada by T.H. Best Printing Company. Issued in publisher's two-toned boards (commonly described as beige cloth-effect with a maroon spine and light spine lettering; dealer descriptions of the boards vary somewhat) with a pictorial dust jacket. The key…. McClelland & Stewart Toronto 1985 is the true first; Houghton Mifflin Boston 1986 is the first US; Jonathan Cape London 1986 is the first UK. The 1985 Canadian issue has clear precedence and won the 1985 Governor General's Award for English-language fiction. US and UK editions are dated 1986 with different imprints; later printings are shown by number line. The Canadian first is markedly scarcer.
- Cat's Eye — 1988 · McClelland & StewartCanadian McClelland & Stewart first printing, October 1988, in blue cloth boards lettered in silver on the spine, 421 pages (ISBN 0771008171 / 9780771008177). Copyright page shows the first printing with no later-printing line; first-state jacket unclipped with the price on the flap. Issued before the US Doubleday and UK editions of 1989. True first is the Canadian M&S 1988 edition; Atwood is Canadian. The US Doubleday and UK printings are 1989 firsts-thus. Finalist for the 1988 Governor General's Award and shortlisted for the 1989 Booker Prize. A signed limited edition of 500 copies was also issued. Doubleday Book Club editions exist (blind-stamp on the rear board, no price on the jacket, often a gutter-code letter); these are not the true first regardless of any printed First Edition line.
- Alias Grace — 1996 · McClelland & StewartCanadian McClelland & Stewart first printing, 1996, roughly 460 to 470 pages, with the copyright page showing the first printing and no further-printing line. First-state jacket unclipped with the price on the flap. US Doubleday and UK editions also appeared in 1996 but later. Canadian M&S is the true first; Doubleday (US) and the UK edition are same-year firsts-thus. Winner of the 1996 Giller Prize and shortlisted for the 1996 Booker Prize. Doubleday and book-club copies lack a printed jacket price and carry a rear-board blind-stamp; distinguish them from the trade Doubleday first, and both from the Canadian true first.
- The Blind Assassin — 2000 · McClelland & StewartMcClelland & Stewart (Toronto) 2000 is the true first (Booker Prize winner), preceding the UK Bloomsbury and US Nan A. Talese/Doubleday editions of 2000. Canadian first has the M&S imprint and first-printing statement. McClelland & Stewart Toronto 2000 is the true first; Bloomsbury London 2000 and Nan A. Talese/Doubleday New York 2000 follow. The Canadian first is the priority issue. UK and US editions distinguished by imprint; later printings by number line. Book club editions lack the M&S first-state points.
- Oryx and Crake — 2003 · McClelland & StewartIdentify the Canadian first printing by the number line, not by printed words. McClelland & Stewart, Toronto, 2003 (ISBN 0771008686 / 9780771008689), grey boards with gilt spine lettering, around 378 pages. The first printing carries a complete number line beginning with 1 (dealers cite the full line 1 2 3 4 5, that is, including the 1). The first-state dust jacket is unclipped with the price on the front flap.…. Canadian M&S edition is the true first, preceding the US Nan A. Talese/Doubleday and UK Bloomsbury editions (both 2003). First book of the MaddAddam trilogy; shortlisted for the 2003 Booker Prize. No major book-club issue; the collectible distinction is national precedence over the US and UK printings.
- The Testaments — 2019 · Chatto & WindusNear-simultaneous worldwide release in September 2019: Canada (McClelland & Stewart), UK (Chatto & Windus), and US (Nan A. Talese / Doubleday). First printings carry a number line descending to 1 or a 'First Edition' statement as appropriate to the imprint. Co-winner of the 2019 Booker Prize, shared with Bernardine Evaristo. Signed and special launch editions were issued. Release was effectively near-simultaneous. As Atwood is Canadian, the McClelland & Stewart edition is the original/home-market publisher and is favoured; the UK Chatto & Windus is the prize-publisher. There is no single clear precedence, so collect the McClelland & Stewart or UK Chatto first printing. Editions are distinguished by imprint; all are 2019 firsts. The first printing is told by the number line descending to 1 (or imprint-appropriate first-edition statement). No prominent book club edition.
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