So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish

UK original: Pan Books, London and Sydney, published 9 November 1984; the census is right that Pan is the true first, but its framing needs correcting. This is not merely "the first UK hardcover in the series" — Arthur Barker had already issued UK hardcovers of the earlier titles; what is distinctive is that this is the first Hitchhiker's book Pan issued FIRST in hardcover under its own imprint, rather than as a Pan paperback original with a hardback following. The first American edition is Harmony Books, New York, with "First Edition" and the full number line "10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1" on the copyright page; it is collected separately and follows Pan. Dealer and library records split on its year — LCCN 84019350 and copyright-page dating point to 1984, while the LC classification and many dealer catalogues give 1985 — so the census's "US Harmony 1985" is defensible but not settled.