# Is "The Gate of Angels" by Penelope Fitzgerald a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Gate of Angels by Penelope Fitzgerald (Collins, 1990) is identified by: The true first is the 1990 Collins hardcover (London), which states 'First published 1990' on the copyright page and carries the Collins imprint at the foot of the title page (ISBN 0-00-223527-7). The UK Collins hardcover (1990) is the true first; the US Houghton Mifflin/Doubleday edition follows in 1992.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The true first is the 1990 Collins hardcover (London), which states 'First published 1990' on the copyright page and carries the Collins imprint at the foot of the title page (ISBN 0-00-223527-7)
- Cloth or paper-covered boards in a pictorial dust jacket; the jacket should retain its printed price and should be present
- Booker Prize shortlisted in 1990 (the prize went to A.S. Byatt's Possession)
- The near-simultaneous Collins Flamingo paperback (ISBN 0-00-654360-X) is a first paperback, not the first edition
- Publisher imprint reads Collins
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Penelope Fitzgerald |
| Publisher | Collins |
| Year | 1990 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The true first is the 1990 Collins hardcover (London), which states 'First published 1990' on the copyright page and carries the Collins… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
The true first is the 1990 Collins hardcover (London), which states 'First published 1990' on the copyright page and carries the Collins imprint at the foot of the title page (ISBN 0-00-223527-7). Cloth or paper-covered boards in a pictorial dust jacket; the jacket should retain its printed price and should be present. Booker Prize shortlisted in 1990 (the prize went to A.S. Byatt's Possession). The near-simultaneous Collins Flamingo paperback (ISBN 0-00-654360-X) is a first paperback, not the first edition.

## Is this the true first?
The UK Collins hardcover (1990) is the true first; the US Houghton Mifflin/Doubleday edition follows in 1992. The UK precedes. The Flamingo paperback of 1990 is a simultaneous or slightly later softcover issue, not the first edition.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No notable book-club edition. The distinction to watch is the hardcover first over the near-simultaneous Flamingo paperback and the later US edition.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Gate of Angels* by Penelope Fitzgerald a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-gate-of-angels
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.