# Is "Longitude" by Dava Sobel a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Longitude by Dava Sobel (Walker & Company, 1995) is identified by: Walker and Company, New York, 1995. US Walker 1995 is the true first, preceding the UK Fourth Estate edition (1996, which carries the longer subtitle).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Walker and Company, New York, 1995
- The copyright page carries the stated-edition wording 'First published in the United States of America in 1995' together with a number line descending to 1
- A small octavo in cloth-backed boards, about 184 pages including the index; issued in a first-state dust jacket that should retain its original printed front-flap price
- The first issue is the unillustrated trade text
- Publisher imprint reads Walker & Company
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Dava Sobel |
| Publisher | Walker & Company |
| Year | 1995 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Walker and Company, New York, 1995 |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Walker and Company, New York, 1995. The copyright page carries the stated-edition wording 'First published in the United States of America in 1995' together with a number line descending to 1. A small octavo in cloth-backed boards, about 184 pages including the index; issued in a first-state dust jacket that should retain its original printed front-flap price. The first issue is the unillustrated trade text.

## Is this the true first?
US Walker 1995 is the true first, preceding the UK Fourth Estate edition (1996, which carries the longer subtitle). Later illustrated editions (1998) are textually expanded and not the first. Signed Sobel copies desirable.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The Illustrated Longitude (published later, 1998, with added images and captions) is a separate 'first thus,' not the 1995 first. Later Walker printings show number lines that no longer descend to 1.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Longitude* by Dava Sobel a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/longitude
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.