# Is "Black Box (Kufsah Shehorah)" by Amos Oz a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Black Box (Kufsah Shehorah) by Amos Oz (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1988) is identified by: First English edition, translated by Nicholas de Lange, 1988, issued by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich in the US and Chatto & Windus in the UK. The 1988 English edition is the first in English.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First English edition, translated by Nicholas de Lange, 1988, issued by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich in the US and Chatto & Windus in the UK. Epistolary novel
- Cloth with dust jacket; the US printing carries a number line ending in 1 on the true first
- Hebrew original published 1987
- Publisher imprint reads Harcourt Brace Jovanovich
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Amos Oz |
| Publisher | Harcourt Brace Jovanovich |
| Year | 1988 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First English edition, translated by Nicholas de Lange, 1988, issued by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich in the US and Chatto & Windus in the UK.… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First English edition, translated by Nicholas de Lange, 1988, issued by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich in the US and Chatto & Windus in the UK. Epistolary novel. Cloth with dust jacket; the US printing carries a number line ending in 1 on the true first. Hebrew original published 1987.

## Is this the true first?
The 1988 English edition is the first in English. US HBJ and UK Chatto & Windus both appeared in 1988; confirm priority by imprint and copyright page rather than assuming. The novel won the Prix Femina Etranger.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later Vintage and Harvest paperbacks are reprints, not the first edition.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Black Box (Kufsah Shehorah)* by Amos Oz a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/black-box-kufsah-shehorah
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.