# Is "Gloriana" by Michael Moorcock a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Gloriana by Michael Moorcock (Allison & Busby, 1978) is identified by: UK Allison & Busby first hardcover, London, published 27 April 1978, full title Gloriana; or, The Unfulfill'd Queen, ISBN 0-85031-237-X. The UK Allison & Busby hardcover (1978) is the true first; the US Avon paperback followed in 1979.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- UK Allison & Busby first hardcover, London, published 27 April 1978, full title Gloriana; or, The Unfulfill'd Queen, ISBN 0-85031-237-X. Copyright/title-verso states 'First published 1978' with no later printing line
- Octavo, cloth-covered boards; first-state dust jacket carries cover art by Jill Riches and retains its original printed price on the flap
- World Fantasy Award winner (Best Novel, 1979)
- Publisher imprint reads Allison & Busby
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Michael Moorcock |
| Publisher | Allison & Busby |
| Year | 1978 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | UK Allison & Busby first hardcover, London, published 27 April 1978, full title Gloriana; or, The Unfulfill'd Queen, ISBN 0-85031-237-X.… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
UK Allison & Busby first hardcover, London, published 27 April 1978, full title Gloriana; or, The Unfulfill'd Queen, ISBN 0-85031-237-X. Copyright/title-verso states 'First published 1978' with no later printing line. Octavo, cloth-covered boards; first-state dust jacket carries cover art by Jill Riches and retains its original printed price on the flap. World Fantasy Award winner (Best Novel, 1979).

## Is this the true first?
The UK Allison & Busby hardcover (1978) is the true first; the US Avon paperback followed in 1979. The 1978 text carries Moorcock's original penultimate/climactic chapter; in 1993 he rewrote that scene, and most later editions carry the revised version (often printed as an appendix), so the Allison & Busby 1978 imprint is the only source of the unrevised original text.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition is the identification issue. The textual trap is the post-1993 revised-scene editions; confirm the Allison & Busby imprint, the 'First published 1978' statement, and the Jill Riches jacket art for the original unrevised text.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Gloriana* by Michael Moorcock a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/gloriana
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.