3 Nadine Gordimer first editions are documented on this shelf, from The Conservationist (1974) to July's People (1981) across 2 different publishers. Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that Nadine Gordimer 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 Nadine Gordimer copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.
- The Conservationist — 1974 · Jonathan CapeThe first UK edition, Jonathan Cape 1974 (ISBN 0224010352), states 'First published 1974' on the verso with no later printing indicated, in original boards and dust jacket (jacket design by Craig Dodd). Some copies retain the elusive wrap-around band announcing it as joint winner of the 1974 Booker Prize. It was co-winner of the 1974 Booker with Stanley Middleton's 'Holiday'; Gordimer received the Nobel in 1991. The UK Jonathan Cape 1974 edition is the true first. The US Viking edition followed in 1975. The Viking US edition is later and US-priced. No prominent book-club edition is associated with the true first.
- Burger's Daughter — 1979 · Jonathan CapeFirst edition, Jonathan Cape, London, 1979 (published June 1979). Bound in cloth over papered boards with gilt lettering to the spine, in a dust jacket that on a first-issue copy retains the printed price to the flap (unclipped); the true first carries no printing statement. Banned in South Africa on publication. The Cape hardcover precedes the US Viking edition of October 1979. Jonathan Cape, London, June 1979 is the true first edition; the US Viking Press hardcover follows in October 1979. Viking US (October 1979) and the later UK Penguin paperback (November 1980) are reprints, not the first appearance.
- July's People — 1981 · Ravan Press / TaurusFirst edition, Ravan Press / Taurus, Johannesburg, 1981. Hardcover, octavo, dust jacket. The South African edition was published to reach local readers and was promptly banned by the apartheid regime. UK (Jonathan Cape) and US (Viking) editions appeared the same year, 1981, and are treated as near-simultaneous. Dealer consensus treats the Ravan Press / Taurus South African edition of 1981 as the true first, with Jonathan Cape (UK) and Viking (US) as concurrent same-year issues rather than the priority printing. The original record's preference for Jonathan Cape as the true first is reversed here. Jonathan Cape (UK) and Viking (US), both 1981, are near-simultaneous editions but are not given priority over the Ravan / Taurus South African issue. Later Penguin paperbacks are reprints.
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