# Is "The Portable Virgin" by Anne Enright a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Portable Virgin by Anne Enright (Secker & Warburg, 1991) is identified by: First edition published by Secker & Warburg, London, 1991 (ISBN 0436200147), stating 'First published in 1991'; publisher's cloth in the unclipped dust wrapper. UK Secker & Warburg (1991) is the true first; there was no contemporaneous US edition, so the UK issue is the precedence point.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition published by Secker & Warburg, London, 1991 (ISBN 0436200147), stating 'First published in 1991'; publisher's cloth in the unclipped dust wrapper
- Enright's first book, a collection of seventeen short stories; won the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature in 1991
- Publisher imprint reads Secker & Warburg
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Anne Enright |
| Publisher | Secker & Warburg |
| Year | 1991 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition published by Secker & Warburg, London, 1991 (ISBN 0436200147), stating 'First published in 1991'; publisher's cloth in the… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First edition published by Secker & Warburg, London, 1991 (ISBN 0436200147), stating 'First published in 1991'; publisher's cloth in the unclipped dust wrapper. Enright's first book, a collection of seventeen short stories; won the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature in 1991. Scarce.

## Is this the true first?
UK Secker & Warburg (1991) is the true first; there was no contemporaneous US edition, so the UK issue is the precedence point.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The later Vintage paperback re-issue (ISBN 0099437392) is a reprint, not the first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Portable Virgin* by Anne Enright a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-portable-virgin
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.