# Is "Captain Corelli's Mandolin" by Louis de Bernières a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernières (Secker & Warburg, 1994) is identified by: First printing: Secker & Warburg, London, 1994, in publisher's cloth — cream/ivory boards lettered in maroon-burgundy to the spine, with maroon/burgundy endpapers and pastedowns — in the pictorial dust jacket designed by Graham Bence, with the price present at the front flap (unclipped). Secker & Warburg, London, 1994 is the true first edition.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First printing: Secker & Warburg, London, 1994, in publisher's cloth — cream/ivory boards lettered in maroon-burgundy to the spine, with maroon/burgundy endpapers and pastedowns — in the pictorial dust jacket designed by Graham Bence, with the price present at the front flap (unclipped)
- A black-cloth binding of the first impression is also recorded in commerce
- Dealers describe the cream/ivory cloth as the 'supposed first issue' binding, but no bibliographic authority establishes precedence between the cream and black bindings, and listings conflict (cream, white boards and black boards have each been called 'first state' by different sellers): binding alone must NOT be used to call a copy a first
- Identify the impression from the copyright page — the first impression carries the Secker descending number line intact beginning at the low number; a copy whose line reads from '9 10 8' is a later impression of the first edition (single-dealer report, treat as indicative)
- The dedication to the author's mother and father is present in the first
- Publisher imprint reads Secker & Warburg
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Louis de Bernières |
| Publisher | Secker & Warburg |
| Year | 1994 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First printing: Secker & Warburg, London, 1994, in publisher's cloth — cream/ivory boards lettered in maroon-burgundy to the spine, with… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
First printing: Secker & Warburg, London, 1994, in publisher's cloth — cream/ivory boards lettered in maroon-burgundy to the spine, with maroon/burgundy endpapers and pastedowns — in the pictorial dust jacket designed by Graham Bence, with the price present at the front flap (unclipped). A black-cloth binding of the first impression is also recorded in commerce. Dealers describe the cream/ivory cloth as the 'supposed first issue' binding, but no bibliographic authority establishes precedence between the cream and black bindings, and listings conflict (cream, white boards and black boards have each been called 'first state' by different sellers): binding alone must NOT be used to call a copy a first. Identify the impression from the copyright page — the first impression carries the Secker descending number line intact beginning at the low number; a copy whose line reads from '9 10 8' is a later impression of the first edition (single-dealer report, treat as indicative). The dedication to the author's mother and father is present in the first.

## Is this the true first?
Secker & Warburg, London, 1994 is the true first edition. The census title-change trap is confirmed: the first American edition was published the same year by Pantheon Books, New York, 1994 under the shortened title 'Corelli's Mandolin', stated 'First American Edition' on the copyright page with a first-printing number sequence, and its own listing acknowledges it was 'preceded by the first U.K Edition under a different title in 1994'. Both are collected (the Pantheon US first and its advance reading copies have a following), but the London Secker & Warburg edition precedes and is the priority. Later UK paperback issues appeared under the Minerva imprint (1995) and are not firsts.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
UK book-club (BCA / Book Club Associates) issues of this title follow the standard club tells and are never firsts: no price and often a blank barcode box on the jacket, a blind-stamped depression (dot, circle or similar) to the lower rear board, 'BCA'/'BCE' or a club code on the copyright page or rear jacket flap, smaller trim, thinner paper, cheaper binding and frequently no headband. Reprint tells: the Minerva paperback (1995) carries a high descending number sequence on the copyright page, and the 2001 film tie-in issues are separate later editions.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Captain Corelli's Mandolin* by Louis de Bernières a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/captain-corellis-mandolin
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.