# Is "The Imitation Game and Other Plays" by Ian McEwan a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Imitation Game and Other Plays by Ian McEwan (Jonathan Cape, 1981) is identified by: Full title 'The Imitation Game: Three Plays for Television' (the three plays are Jack Flea's Birthday Celebration, Solid Geometry, and The Imitation Game). UK Cape is the true first; no contemporaneous US hardcover.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Full title 'The Imitation Game: Three Plays for Television' (the three plays are Jack Flea's Birthday Celebration, Solid Geometry, and The Imitation Game)
- Speckled cloth, black spine titles; copyright page reads 'First published 1981'
- First-issue dust jacket priced 5.95 net on the front flap
- Publisher imprint reads Jonathan Cape
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Ian McEwan |
| Publisher | Jonathan Cape |
| Year | 1981 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Full title 'The Imitation Game: Three Plays for Television' (the three plays are Jack Flea's Birthday Celebration, Solid Geometry, and The… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Full title 'The Imitation Game: Three Plays for Television' (the three plays are Jack Flea's Birthday Celebration, Solid Geometry, and The Imitation Game). Speckled cloth, black spine titles; copyright page reads 'First published 1981'. First-issue dust jacket priced 5.95 net on the front flap.

## Is this the true first?
UK Cape is the true first; no contemporaneous US hardcover. Collection of television plays.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book club edition traced.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Imitation Game and Other Plays* by Ian McEwan a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-imitation-game-and-other-plays
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.