# Is "In the Skin of a Lion" by Michael Ondaatje a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of In the Skin of a Lion by Michael Ondaatje (McClelland & Stewart, 1987) is identified by: First Canadian edition, McClelland & Stewart, Toronto, 1987 (ISBN 0-7710-6887-5), with the copyright page showing the first printing and no later-printing line. True first is the Canadian M&S 1987 edition, preceding the US Knopf (1987, the first American edition) and the UK editions.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First Canadian edition, McClelland & Stewart, Toronto, 1987 (ISBN 0-7710-6887-5), with the copyright page showing the first printing and no later-printing line
- Bound in black paper-covered boards with the title stamped in silver on the spine
- 244 pages
- First-state dust jacket is unclipped with the price present on the front flap
- Publisher imprint reads McClelland & Stewart
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Michael Ondaatje |
| Publisher | McClelland & Stewart |
| Year | 1987 |
| True first | Canadian edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First Canadian edition, McClelland & Stewart, Toronto, 1987 (ISBN 0-7710-6887-5), with the copyright page showing the first printing and no… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First Canadian edition, McClelland & Stewart, Toronto, 1987 (ISBN 0-7710-6887-5), with the copyright page showing the first printing and no later-printing line. Bound in black paper-covered boards with the title stamped in silver on the spine; 244 pages. First-state dust jacket is unclipped with the price present on the front flap.

## Is this the true first?
True first is the Canadian M&S 1987 edition, preceding the US Knopf (1987, the first American edition) and the UK editions. This is the novel that introduces characters later carried into The English Patient.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No significant book-club edition; watch national precedence, since the Knopf US printing is a later first-thus rather than the true first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *In the Skin of a Lion* by Michael Ondaatje a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/in-the-skin-of-a-lion
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.