# Is "Zorro" by Isabel Allende a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Zorro by Isabel Allende (HarperCollins, 2005) is identified by: US HarperCollins first edition of 2005 (ISBN 0-06-077897-0 / 9780060778972), identified by a complete descending number line ending in 1 on the copyright page. First English-language edition of El Zorro: Comienza la leyenda (2005).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- US HarperCollins first edition of 2005 (ISBN 0-06-077897-0 / 9780060778972), identified by a complete descending number line ending in 1 on the copyright page
- Translated from the Spanish by Margaret Sayers Peden
- The volume is an octavo of 384 pages bound in black quarter cloth over red boards, stamped in silver on the spine, with the page fore-edges left uncut (deckle-style)
- The first-issue pictorial dust jacket carries the bold black-and-red portrait of Zorro by Roberto de Vicq de Cumptich and should retain its printed cover price on the front flap; presence of that printed price is the point to check, and clipping does not change the edition
- Publisher imprint reads HarperCollins
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Isabel Allende |
| Publisher | HarperCollins |
| Year | 2005 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | US HarperCollins first edition of 2005 (ISBN 0-06-077897-0 / 9780060778972), identified by a complete descending number line ending in 1 on… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
US HarperCollins first edition of 2005 (ISBN 0-06-077897-0 / 9780060778972), identified by a complete descending number line ending in 1 on the copyright page. Translated from the Spanish by Margaret Sayers Peden. The volume is an octavo of 384 pages bound in black quarter cloth over red boards, stamped in silver on the spine, with the page fore-edges left uncut (deckle-style). The first-issue pictorial dust jacket carries the bold black-and-red portrait of Zorro by Roberto de Vicq de Cumptich and should retain its printed cover price on the front flap; presence of that printed price is the point to check, and clipping does not change the edition.

## Is this the true first?
First English-language edition of El Zorro: Comienza la leyenda (2005). The US HarperCollins edition, published in May 2005 in the Peden translation, is the true first in English; the UK HarperCollins printing appeared the same year.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No notable book-club edition affecting the first-edition identification. Watch for later printings whose number line no longer runs down to 1.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Zorro* by Isabel Allende a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/zorro
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.