The Bean Trees

The US Harper & Row 1988 edition is the true first and the census claim is confirmed; this is Kingsolver's first novel and first book. The first UK edition followed from Virago Press Limited, London, in 1989 (first impression, octavo, black cloth with gilt spine titles, [vi],232,[2] pp., in a priced jacket) and is separately collected as the first English appearance. A minority of dealer records date the Virago 1988; the imprint and the standard listings give 1989.