# Is "Piranesi" by Susanna Clarke a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (Bloomsbury — London and New York, both September 15, 2020, 2020) is identified by: Both Bloomsbury printings are dated September 15, 2020, and first printings are identified by a complete number line on the copyright page: dealers describe the London printing (ISBN 978-1-5266-2242-6) as carrying the full 1–10 line, and later impressions have the low numbers stripped, so the presence of the 1 is the point. Simultaneous — and the census's assertion that 'the UK printing is generally taken as primary' could not be established as a rule; treat precedence as unsettled rather than stating it.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Both Bloomsbury printings are dated September 15, 2020, and first printings are identified by a complete number line on the copyright page: dealers describe the London printing (ISBN 978-1-5266-2242-6) as carrying the full 1–10 line, and later impressions have the low numbers stripped, so the presence of the 1 is the point
- The New York printing (ISBN 978-1-6355-7563-7) is a separate setting with its own full line
- Both trade issues were published in hardback in a pictorial jacket, which should be present and priced at the flap
- Two retailer exclusives are documented and are not the trade first: the Waterstones edition (ISBN 978-1-5266-3100-8) carries the author's signature on a bound-in leaf and an exclusive extra chapter, 'Two Interviews' (two interviews conducted by Dr Ketterley) — added text makes it a distinct issue, not merely a signed copy; and the Barnes & Noble exclusive (ISBN 978-1-6355-7675-7) is bound in black boards with a copper-foil column motif and carries a sticker to the front panel
- Publisher imprint reads Bloomsbury — London and New York, both September 15, 2020
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Susanna Clarke |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury — London and New York, both September 15, 2020 |
| Year | 2020 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Both Bloomsbury printings are dated September 15, 2020, and first printings are identified by a complete number line on the copyright page… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Both Bloomsbury printings are dated September 15, 2020, and first printings are identified by a complete number line on the copyright page: dealers describe the London printing (ISBN 978-1-5266-2242-6) as carrying the full 1–10 line, and later impressions have the low numbers stripped, so the presence of the 1 is the point. The New York printing (ISBN 978-1-6355-7563-7) is a separate setting with its own full line. Both trade issues were published in hardback in a pictorial jacket, which should be present and priced at the flap. Two retailer exclusives are documented and are not the trade first: the Waterstones edition (ISBN 978-1-5266-3100-8) carries the author's signature on a bound-in leaf and an exclusive extra chapter, 'Two Interviews' (two interviews conducted by Dr Ketterley) — added text makes it a distinct issue, not merely a signed copy; and the Barnes & Noble exclusive (ISBN 978-1-6355-7675-7) is bound in black boards with a copper-foil column motif and carries a sticker to the front panel.

## Is this the true first?
Simultaneous — and the census's assertion that 'the UK printing is generally taken as primary' could not be established as a rule; treat precedence as unsettled rather than stating it. Bloomsbury published Piranesi in London and in New York on the same day, September 15, 2020. Both are collected and both should be named: the London printing (978-1-5266-2242-6) is the home-market issue for an English author and is what Wikipedia and UK dealers illustrate as the 'first UK edition'; the New York printing (978-1-6355-7563-7) is the US first. Neither has demonstrable priority over the other on the evidence consulted, and no bibliography adjudicates it. The 2025 Folio Society illustrated edition and the retailer exclusives are separate issues or 'first thus'.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition is documented for this title. The tells that matter are impression and issue tells rather than club tells: a stripped number line marks a later impression, and the two retailer exclusives — the Waterstones issue (signed bound-in leaf plus the extra chapter 'Two Interviews') and the Barnes & Noble issue (black boards, copper-foil columns, front-panel sticker) — were sold alongside the trade first and are neither reprints nor the trade first. The Folio Society illustrated edition (2025) is a later issue.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Piranesi* by Susanna Clarke a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/piranesi
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.