# Is "The Flood" by Ian Rankin a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Flood by Ian Rankin (Polygon, 1986) is identified by: Polygon issued the first edition in two simultaneous states, and both are the first edition, first impression: a hardback in publisher's red boards with a dust jacket illustrated by Kerry Kirkwood, and a paperback in printed wrappers issued with no jacket. UK Polygon (Edinburgh, 1986) is the true first and the only 1986 edition — Rankin's genuinely rare pre-Rebus debut — and the census claim is confirmed.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Polygon issued the first edition in two simultaneous states, and both are the first edition, first impression: a hardback in publisher's red boards with a dust jacket illustrated by Kerry Kirkwood, and a paperback in printed wrappers issued with no jacket
- The hardback is the scarcer and collector-preferred issue and is described by dealers as elusive; the wrappered issue is explicitly catalogued as "first paperback edition, first impression, issued simultaneously with the hardback." There is no number line and no printing statement to check on this title — identification rests entirely on the Polygon / Edinburgh / 1986 imprint plus the correct issue state and, for the hardback, the Kirkwood jacket
- The print run is commonly reported as only a few hundred copies; that figure traces to Wikipedia and is not confirmed against a publisher record, so treat it as unverified
- Signed copies often carry one of Rankin's signing motifs (noughts-and-crosses, a hangman's gibbet, or a smiley-face doodle); a motif is a signing habit, not an issue point, and does not establish priority
- Publisher imprint reads Polygon
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Ian Rankin |
| Publisher | Polygon |
| Year | 1986 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Polygon issued the first edition in two simultaneous states, and both are the first edition, first impression: a hardback in publisher's… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Polygon issued the first edition in two simultaneous states, and both are the first edition, first impression: a hardback in publisher's red boards with a dust jacket illustrated by Kerry Kirkwood, and a paperback in printed wrappers issued with no jacket. The hardback is the scarcer and collector-preferred issue and is described by dealers as elusive; the wrappered issue is explicitly catalogued as "first paperback edition, first impression, issued simultaneously with the hardback." There is no number line and no printing statement to check on this title — identification rests entirely on the Polygon / Edinburgh / 1986 imprint plus the correct issue state and, for the hardback, the Kirkwood jacket. The print run is commonly reported as only a few hundred copies; that figure traces to Wikipedia and is not confirmed against a publisher record, so treat it as unverified. Signed copies often carry one of Rankin's signing motifs (noughts-and-crosses, a hangman's gibbet, or a smiley-face doodle); a motif is a signing habit, not an issue point, and does not establish priority.

## Is this the true first?
UK Polygon (Edinburgh, 1986) is the true first and the only 1986 edition — Rankin's genuinely rare pre-Rebus debut — and the census claim is confirmed. There is no US first of this date and no original-language issue other than the Scottish one, so no UK-vs-US precedence question arises. The dominant trap is the 2005 Orion (London) hardback reissue, which is a first-thus and is regularly mis-listed as a first: it carries a new introduction by Rankin, is bound in black cloth lettered in silver with a price in sterling at the front flap, and has different pagination from the Polygon issue. An uncorrected proof of that 2005 Orion reissue also circulates and is likewise not a first.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition of the 1986 Polygon issue is documented in the sources consulted. The reprint tells that matter on this title are the later trade reissues, not a club: chiefly the 2005 Orion hardback (new introduction, black cloth, silver spine lettering, different pagination) and the Orion/Time Warner paperbacks that follow it. Any copy lacking the Polygon Edinburgh 1986 imprint is not the first, whatever the binding.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Flood* by Ian Rankin a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-flood
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.