# Is "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" by Mark Haddon a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon (Jonathan Cape, 2003) is identified by: First impressions of either UK issue are identified by a complete number line including the 1 on the copyright page; later impressions truncate the line, and dealers catalog such copies by impression number (an eleventh printing, for example), so the 2003 date alone proves nothing. The census claim is confirmed.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First impressions of either UK issue are identified by a complete number line including the 1 on the copyright page; later impressions truncate the line, and dealers catalog such copies by impression number (an eleventh printing, for example), so the 2003 date alone proves nothing
- The two issues differ only in binding and dust jacket — the Jonathan Cape adult issue in the darker jacket, the David Fickling children's issue in the lighter one — with no textual differences between them
- The Cape adult issue is ISBN 0-224-06378-2
- Jackets should be unclipped with the price present at the flap
- Pre-publication proofs were issued by both publishers and are proofs, not firsts
- The exact number-line sequence was not corroborated across the sources consulted, so only the "complete line including 1" test is stated here
- Publisher imprint reads Jonathan Cape

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Mark Haddon |
| Publisher | Jonathan Cape |
| Year | 2003 |
| True first | British edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First impressions of either UK issue are identified by a complete number line including the 1 on the copyright page; later impressions… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
First impressions of either UK issue are identified by a complete number line including the 1 on the copyright page; later impressions truncate the line, and dealers catalog such copies by impression number (an eleventh printing, for example), so the 2003 date alone proves nothing. The two issues differ only in binding and dust jacket — the Jonathan Cape adult issue in the darker jacket, the David Fickling children's issue in the lighter one — with no textual differences between them. The Cape adult issue is ISBN 0-224-06378-2. Jackets should be unclipped with the price present at the flap. Pre-publication proofs were issued by both publishers and are proofs, not firsts. The exact number-line sequence was not corroborated across the sources consulted, so only the "complete line including 1" test is stated here.

## Is this the true first?
The census claim is confirmed. The true first is British and consists of TWO simultaneous hardcover issues published 1 May 2003: Jonathan Cape (the adult issue) and David Fickling Books (the children's/young-adult issue). Both are collected as first editions, neither has precedence over the other, and a completist collection holds both. The Doubleday US edition followed in 2003 (sources cite 17 June, one gives 31 July) and is the first American edition — a first, but not the true first. Written in English; no original-language question arises.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Book-club tells are not specifically documented for this title in the sources consulted. The practical reprint test is the number line, which must include the 1: the many later impressions of both UK issues, the Doubleday US edition, the later UK paperback issues and the post-2012 stage-play tie-in issues are all reprints or "first thus." Beware copies of the David Fickling issue described simply as "first edition" with no impression evidence — the issue is a first edition, but the copy may be a late impression.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time* by Mark Haddon a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-curious-incident-of-the-dog-in-the-night-time
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.