# Is "Victory City" by Salman Rushdie a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Victory City by Salman Rushdie (Jonathan Cape, 2023) is identified by: Boards with gilt spine lettering; full number line ending in 1 on the copyright page; original dust jacket with its printed price present on the front flap. The UK Jonathan Cape edition (9 February 2023) and the US Random House edition (2023) appeared in the same year; the Cape printing is the standard UK first and the two are effectively simultaneous firsts in their respective markets.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Boards with gilt spine lettering; full number line ending in 1 on the copyright page; original dust jacket with its printed price present on the front flap
- Jonathan Cape hardback, ISBN 9781787333444, 338 pages, published 9 February 2023
- Publisher imprint reads Jonathan Cape
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Salman Rushdie |
| Publisher | Jonathan Cape |
| Year | 2023 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Boards with gilt spine lettering; full number line ending in 1 on the copyright page; original dust jacket with its printed price present… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
Boards with gilt spine lettering; full number line ending in 1 on the copyright page; original dust jacket with its printed price present on the front flap. Jonathan Cape hardback, ISBN 9781787333444, 338 pages, published 9 February 2023.

## Is this the true first?
The UK Jonathan Cape edition (9 February 2023) and the US Random House edition (2023) appeared in the same year; the Cape printing is the standard UK first and the two are effectively simultaneous firsts in their respective markets.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later impressions are shown by a shortened number line that no longer reaches 1. No book-club concern for the first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Victory City* by Salman Rushdie a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/victory-city
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.