# Is "The Jaguar Smile: A Nicaraguan Journey" by Salman Rushdie a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Jaguar Smile: A Nicaraguan Journey by Salman Rushdie (Picador / Pan Books, 1987) is identified by: Rushdie's first full-length non-fiction book. The UK Picador paperback original (1987) is the true first edition; Jonathan Cape is named only in association and was not the issuing imprint.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Rushdie's first full-length non-fiction book
- The true UK first was issued as a Picador paperback original in printed pictorial wrappers (not a hardcover in boards), with a number line ending in 1 on the copyright page
- The Viking (Elisabeth Sifton Books) US edition, also 1987, was the first hardcover printing
- Publisher imprint reads Picador / Pan Books
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Salman Rushdie |
| Publisher | Picador / Pan Books |
| Year | 1987 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Rushdie's first full-length non-fiction book |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Rushdie's first full-length non-fiction book. The true UK first was issued as a Picador paperback original in printed pictorial wrappers (not a hardcover in boards), with a number line ending in 1 on the copyright page. The Viking (Elisabeth Sifton Books) US edition, also 1987, was the first hardcover printing.

## Is this the true first?
The UK Picador paperback original (1987) is the true first edition; Jonathan Cape is named only in association and was not the issuing imprint. The US Viking hardcover (1987) was the first appearance in cloth.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later printings of the Picador wrappered edition remove the 1 from the number line or add a printing statement.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Jaguar Smile: A Nicaraguan Journey* by Salman Rushdie a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-jaguar-smile-a-nicaraguan-journey
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.