# Is "Doctor Copernicus" by John Banville a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Doctor Copernicus by John Banville (Secker & Warburg, 1976) is identified by: UK first edition published by Secker & Warburg in 1976, with the Secker & Warburg imprint and 1976 date stated on the copyright page; priced dust jacket. Both the UK Secker & Warburg and the US W.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- UK first edition published by Secker & Warburg in 1976, with the Secker & Warburg imprint and 1976 date stated on the copyright page; priced dust jacket
- Won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize
- First book of the science/'Revolutions' sequence
- Publisher imprint reads Secker & Warburg
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | John Banville |
| Publisher | Secker & Warburg |
| Year | 1976 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | UK first edition published by Secker & Warburg in 1976, with the Secker & Warburg imprint and 1976 date stated on the copyright page… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
UK first edition published by Secker & Warburg in 1976, with the Secker & Warburg imprint and 1976 date stated on the copyright page; priced dust jacket. Won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. First book of the science/'Revolutions' sequence.

## Is this the true first?
Both the UK Secker & Warburg and the US W. W. Norton editions are dated 1976. The UK edition is the conventionally accepted first; the Norton first American edition is identified by the figure 1 in its number line.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No notable book-club edition.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Doctor Copernicus* by John Banville a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/doctor-copernicus
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.