# Is "The Sea and Summer" by George Turner a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Sea and Summer by George Turner (Faber & Faber, 1987) is identified by: First edition, London: Faber & Faber, 1987, octavo hardcover in dust jacket. The UK Faber & Faber hardcover of 1987 is the true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, London: Faber & Faber, 1987, octavo hardcover in dust jacket
- This is the first edition of the book and the first appearance under this title
- Bound in publisher's boards with gilt spine lettering; the first printing is identified by the Faber number line present in the preliminaries
- The jacket should retain its original printed price (present, not clipped, on an unclipped jacket)
- Publisher imprint reads Faber & Faber
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | George Turner |
| Publisher | Faber & Faber |
| Year | 1987 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, London: Faber & Faber, 1987, octavo hardcover in dust jacket |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First edition, London: Faber & Faber, 1987, octavo hardcover in dust jacket. This is the first edition of the book and the first appearance under this title. Bound in publisher's boards with gilt spine lettering; the first printing is identified by the Faber number line present in the preliminaries. The jacket should retain its original printed price (present, not clipped, on an unclipped jacket).

## Is this the true first?
The UK Faber & Faber hardcover of 1987 is the true first. The US edition appeared as Drowning Towers from Arbor House (an imprint distributed through William Morrow) in 1988, in cloth-backed boards with gilt spine lettering and a jacket illustration by Ron Walotsky. The book won the 1988 Arthur C. Clarke Award.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The US 'Drowning Towers' (Arbor House, 1988) is a retitled later state, not the same first edition; subsequent printings are reprints. Distinguish the Faber first by its title and the number line in the preliminaries.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Sea and Summer* by George Turner a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-sea-and-summer
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.