# Is "Berlin Game" by Len Deighton a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Berlin Game by Len Deighton (Hutchinson, 1983) is identified by: Hutchinson firsts state "First published 1983" (or "First published in Great Britain 1983") on the copyright page; Hutchinson noted subsequent printings and did not add a number row until the late 1980s, so a genuine 1983 Hutchinson first shows the first-published line and no number line. The UK edition is the true first: Hutchinson, London, 13 October 1983 — the opening volume of the Game, Set & Match trilogy, followed by Mexico Set (Hutchinson, 22 October 1984) and London Match (1985).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Hutchinson firsts state "First published 1983" (or "First published in Great Britain 1983") on the copyright page
- Hutchinson noted subsequent printings and did not add a number row until the late 1980s, so a genuine 1983 Hutchinson first shows the first-published line and no number line
- Bound in black boards with silver embossing to the spine and red endpapers and pastedowns
- The jacket carries the "corrupted fruit" image, illustrated by Hargrave Hands to Raymond Hawkey's design concept — some dealers credit the jacket to Hawkey outright, so both attributions appear in catalogue copy
- Priced jacket, with the price present at the front flap on the trade issue
- Octavo, 303/304pp
- Publisher imprint reads Hutchinson

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Len Deighton |
| Publisher | Hutchinson |
| Year | 1983 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Hutchinson firsts state "First published 1983" (or "First published in Great Britain 1983") on the copyright page |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
Hutchinson firsts state "First published 1983" (or "First published in Great Britain 1983") on the copyright page; Hutchinson noted subsequent printings and did not add a number row until the late 1980s, so a genuine 1983 Hutchinson first shows the first-published line and no number line. Bound in black boards with silver embossing to the spine and red endpapers and pastedowns. The jacket carries the "corrupted fruit" image, illustrated by Hargrave Hands to Raymond Hawkey's design concept — some dealers credit the jacket to Hawkey outright, so both attributions appear in catalogue copy. Priced jacket, with the price present at the front flap on the trade issue. Octavo, 303/304pp. The uncorrected proof is in yellow Hutchinson printed wrappers and carries the same jacket design as the published book, with minor changes to the publisher's blurb; proofs are sometimes offered loosely as first editions and are a separate issue.

## Is this the true first?
The UK edition is the true first: Hutchinson, London, 13 October 1983 — the opening volume of the Game, Set & Match trilogy, followed by Mexico Set (Hutchinson, 22 October 1984) and London Match (1985). The first American edition is Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 5 January 1984 (ISBN 0394534077), self-identifying by Knopf's stated "First Edition" on the copyright page. The Hutchinson edition precedes by roughly three months, so a 1984 Knopf copy is a first American edition, not the first. The census claim is confirmed on both publisher and precedence.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The Deighton Dossier records a Hutchinson first print run of 40,000 copies, so first editions are readily found and any copy described as rare should be treated sceptically. No specific book-club issue is documented in the sources consulted. The two live traps are the yellow-wrappered Hutchinson proof being conflated with the first edition, and UK book-club reprints, which run to the standard signals — no price printed at the jacket flap, lighter boards, and cheaper bulking paper.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Berlin Game* by Len Deighton a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/berlin-game
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.