Memoirs of a Geisha

The true first is the American edition: Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1997 (ISBN 0-375-40011-7) — the census claim is confirmed. It precedes the first British edition, Chatto & Windus, London, 1997 (ISBN 0-7011-6674-6), which followed on 30 October 1997; even on the latest cited US date the Knopf issue has precedence. The Knopf printing is the edition collected as the first; the Chatto & Windus is collected as the first UK and both are gathered by completist collectors. Golden wrote in English, so no original-language question arises.