# Is "Charlotte Gray" by Sebastian Faulks a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Charlotte Gray by Sebastian Faulks (Hutchinson, 1998) is identified by: First UK edition published by Hutchinson, London, 1998, stating 'First published in 1998'; blue cloth boards lettered in gilt on the spine, in the unclipped pictorial dust jacket. UK Hutchinson (1998) is the true first; the US Random House edition followed in 1999.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First UK edition published by Hutchinson, London, 1998, stating 'First published in 1998'; blue cloth boards lettered in gilt on the spine, in the unclipped pictorial dust jacket
- First printing indicated by the number sequence at the copyright page
- Third and final volume of Faulks's French trilogy, following The Girl at the Lion d'Or and Birdsong
- Publisher imprint reads Hutchinson
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Sebastian Faulks |
| Publisher | Hutchinson |
| Year | 1998 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First UK edition published by Hutchinson, London, 1998, stating 'First published in 1998'; blue cloth boards lettered in gilt on the spine… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First UK edition published by Hutchinson, London, 1998, stating 'First published in 1998'; blue cloth boards lettered in gilt on the spine, in the unclipped pictorial dust jacket. First printing indicated by the number sequence at the copyright page. Third and final volume of Faulks's French trilogy, following The Girl at the Lion d'Or and Birdsong.

## Is this the true first?
UK Hutchinson (1998) is the true first; the US Random House edition followed in 1999. UK precedes.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Film tie-in editions (the 2001 film starred Cate Blanchett) and later printings are reprints, not the first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Charlotte Gray* by Sebastian Faulks a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/charlotte-gray
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.