# Is "The Rub of Time: Essays and Reportage 1986–2016" by Martin Amis a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Rub of Time: Essays and Reportage 1986–2016 by Martin Amis (Jonathan Cape, 2017) is identified by: First UK edition, Jonathan Cape, London, 2017 (ISBN 9780224076111). The UK Jonathan Cape edition (21 September 2017) precedes the US Knopf edition (2018).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First UK edition, Jonathan Cape, London, 2017 (ISBN 9780224076111)
- Bound in black cloth with the spine lettered in silver; issued in the original dust jacket, which should retain the printed price and is not distinguished by price-clipping
- First printings carry a full descending number line ending in 1 on the copyright page; second and later impressions remove the lower digits or state the impression, and copies described as 'the printed pricet edition, 2nd printing' are documented
- Publisher imprint reads Jonathan Cape
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Martin Amis |
| Publisher | Jonathan Cape |
| Year | 2017 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First UK edition, Jonathan Cape, London, 2017 (ISBN 9780224076111) |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First UK edition, Jonathan Cape, London, 2017 (ISBN 9780224076111). Bound in black cloth with the spine lettered in silver; issued in the original dust jacket, which should retain the printed price and is not distinguished by price-clipping. First printings carry a full descending number line ending in 1 on the copyright page; second and later impressions remove the lower digits or state the impression, and copies described as 'the printed pricet edition, 2nd printing' are documented.

## Is this the true first?
The UK Jonathan Cape edition (21 September 2017) precedes the US Knopf edition (2018). The Cape issue carries the subtitle 'Bellow, Nabokov, Hitchens, Travolta, Trump. Essays and Reportage, 1994–2016.'

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition affecting first-printing identification; later Cape impressions are told apart by the shortened number line.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Rub of Time: Essays and Reportage 1986–2016* by Martin Amis a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-rub-of-time-essays-and-reportage-1986-2016
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.