# Is "Fever Pitch" by Nick Hornby a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby (Victor Gollancz Ltd, 1992) is identified by: First printing: Victor Gollancz Ltd, London, 1992, octavo, 248 pp., in the publisher's grey boards lettered in gilt to the spine, issued in the original dust jacket with the price present at the front flap (unclipped; price-clipping is common and does not by itself make a copy a later issue). The Victor Gollancz, London, 1992 hardcover is the true first edition worldwide and the only edition with first-edition standing.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First printing: Victor Gollancz Ltd, London, 1992, octavo, 248 pp., in the publisher's grey boards lettered in gilt to the spine, issued in the original dust jacket with the price present at the front flap (unclipped; price-clipping is common and does not by itself make a copy a later issue)
- The first edition carries the subtitle 'A Fan's Life', which was dropped from later paperback issues — a subtitle-present copy is a necessary but not sufficient test
- Gollancz used no number line on this title, so the first impression is identified negatively: the copyright page must show the 1992 'first published in Great Britain by Victor Gollancz Ltd' statement and no reprint or later-impression line beneath it
- Grey boards with gilt spine and the absence of a reprint statement are agreed across ABA/ILAB and ABAA-level dealer descriptions; no first-state text error or binding variant is recorded for this title
- Publisher imprint reads Victor Gollancz Ltd
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Nick Hornby |
| Publisher | Victor Gollancz Ltd |
| Year | 1992 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First printing: Victor Gollancz Ltd, London, 1992, octavo, 248 pp., in the publisher's grey boards lettered in gilt to the spine, issued in… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First printing: Victor Gollancz Ltd, London, 1992, octavo, 248 pp., in the publisher's grey boards lettered in gilt to the spine, issued in the original dust jacket with the price present at the front flap (unclipped; price-clipping is common and does not by itself make a copy a later issue). The first edition carries the subtitle 'A Fan's Life', which was dropped from later paperback issues — a subtitle-present copy is a necessary but not sufficient test. Gollancz used no number line on this title, so the first impression is identified negatively: the copyright page must show the 1992 'first published in Great Britain by Victor Gollancz Ltd' statement and no reprint or later-impression line beneath it. Grey boards with gilt spine and the absence of a reprint statement are agreed across ABA/ILAB and ABAA-level dealer descriptions; no first-state text error or binding variant is recorded for this title.

## Is this the true first?
The Victor Gollancz, London, 1992 hardcover is the true first edition worldwide and the only edition with first-edition standing. The census note that a revised 1994 US edition exists is NOT corroborated and is corrected here: no US hardcover first is recorded, one dealer (Lorne Bair Rare Books) records the first American appearance as a Penguin (New York) pictorial paperback dated 1992, and the Riverhead Books US trade paperback (published 1 March 1998, per the publisher's own catalogue) is a 'first thus'. Because the US appearances are paperback and later, there is no UK/US precedence contest — collectors take the Gollancz hardcover.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No Gollancz book-club issue of the 1992 first is documented. The traps on this title are 'first thus' rather than club: the Penguin/Indigo paperback issues (which drop the 'A Fan's Life' subtitle), the Riverhead US trade paperback of 1998, and the Penguin Modern Classics reissue of August 2012 are all later editions. Any copyright page bearing an impression statement after the 1992 'first published' line is a reprint of the first edition, not the first printing.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Fever Pitch* by Nick Hornby a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/fever-pitch
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.