# Is "Blindness" by José Saramago a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Blindness by José Saramago (The Harvill Press, 1997) is identified by: English true first is the 1997 hardcover translated by Giovanni Pontiero and published by The Harvill Press, London (ISBN 1860462979). The English true first is The Harvill Press, London, 1997, in the Pontiero translation; the first American edition (Harcourt Brace, New York) is 1998.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- English true first is the 1997 hardcover translated by Giovanni Pontiero and published by The Harvill Press, London (ISBN 1860462979)
- Confirm the 'First published 1997' statement on the copyright page
- Harvill of this period typically used no number line, so rely on the dated statement and imprint
- The first American edition is Harcourt Brace & Company, New York, 1998 (ISBN 0151002517), a year later, identified by the complete letter line 'ACEFDB'
- The Harvill UK 1997 unambiguously precedes Harcourt and is the true first; the two were not simultaneous
- Publisher imprint reads The Harvill Press
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | José Saramago |
| Publisher | The Harvill Press |
| Year | 1997 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | English true first is the 1997 hardcover translated by Giovanni Pontiero and published by The Harvill Press, London (ISBN 1860462979) |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
English true first is the 1997 hardcover translated by Giovanni Pontiero and published by The Harvill Press, London (ISBN 1860462979). Confirm the 'First published 1997' statement on the copyright page; Harvill of this period typically used no number line, so rely on the dated statement and imprint. The first American edition is Harcourt Brace & Company, New York, 1998 (ISBN 0151002517), a year later, identified by the complete letter line 'ACEFDB'. The Harvill UK 1997 unambiguously precedes Harcourt and is the true first; the two were not simultaneous.

## Is this the true first?
The English true first is The Harvill Press, London, 1997, in the Pontiero translation; the first American edition (Harcourt Brace, New York) is 1998. The Portuguese 'Ensaio sobre a cegueira' (Caminho, Lisbon, 1995) is the true first in any language.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No major club edition. Among English printings, Harvill UK 1997 precedes the 1998 Harcourt American first; check the dated Harvill copyright statement and the Harcourt 'ACEFDB' letter line. The absolute true first is the 1995 Caminho Portuguese edition.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Blindness* by José Saramago a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/blindness
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.