# Is "Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World" by Mark Kurlansky a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World by Mark Kurlansky (Walker and Company, 1997) is identified by: Bound in black cloth-backed boards with gilt lettering to the spine; issued with illustrated map endpapers and black-and-white text illustrations. US Walker and Company (New York) is the true first, 1997; the UK Jonathan Cape edition followed in 1998.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Bound in black cloth-backed boards with gilt lettering to the spine; issued with illustrated map endpapers and black-and-white text illustrations
- The first US printing carries the copyright-page number line in Walker and Company's characteristic offset hybrid form, 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2, with the lowest figure
- present, together with a first US publication statement dated 1997
- The first-state jacket should retain its printed price to the corner (a clipped example is acceptable, but the price should originally have been present)
- Publisher imprint reads Walker and Company
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Mark Kurlansky |
| Publisher | Walker and Company |
| Year | 1997 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Bound in black cloth-backed boards with gilt lettering to the spine; issued with illustrated map endpapers and black-and-white text… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Bound in black cloth-backed boards with gilt lettering to the spine; issued with illustrated map endpapers and black-and-white text illustrations. The first US printing carries the copyright-page number line in Walker and Company's characteristic offset hybrid form, 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2, with the lowest figure (1) present, together with a first US publication statement dated 1997. The first-state jacket should retain its printed price to the corner (a clipped example is acceptable, but the price should originally have been present).

## Is this the true first?
US Walker and Company (New York) is the true first, 1997; the UK Jonathan Cape edition followed in 1998.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Confirm the full Walker number line 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 (with the 1 present) on the copyright page. Later or reprinted issues drop the 1 from the line, and the mass-market Penguin paperback is a separate, later issue rather than the first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World* by Mark Kurlansky a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/cod-a-biography-of-the-fish-that-changed-the-world
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.