# Is "Fury" by Salman Rushdie a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Fury by Salman Rushdie (Jonathan Cape, 2001) is identified by: First edition, first impression: black boards with gilt-lettered spine, issued in a pictorial dust jacket that must retain its printed price on the front flap. The UK Jonathan Cape edition (30 August 2001, ISBN 0224061593 / 9780224061599) precedes the US Random House edition (September 2001), making the Cape printing the true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, first impression: black boards with gilt-lettered spine, issued in a pictorial dust jacket that must retain its printed price on the front flap
- The first impression is identified by the complete number line 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 on the copyright page, with no impression statement present
- Publisher imprint reads Jonathan Cape
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Salman Rushdie |
| Publisher | Jonathan Cape |
| Year | 2001 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, first impression: black boards with gilt-lettered spine, issued in a pictorial dust jacket that must retain its printed… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
First edition, first impression: black boards with gilt-lettered spine, issued in a pictorial dust jacket that must retain its printed price on the front flap. The first impression is identified by the complete number line 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 on the copyright page, with no impression statement present.

## Is this the true first?
The UK Jonathan Cape edition (30 August 2001, ISBN 0224061593 / 9780224061599) precedes the US Random House edition (September 2001), making the Cape printing the true first.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later impressions add an impression statement to the copyright page and the number line no longer descends to 1; the true first shows the full unbroken line ending in 1. No separate book-club edition of the Cape printing is a factor here.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Fury* by Salman Rushdie a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/fury
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.