The Beach

Viking, London, 14 October 1996 (paperback original) is the true first edition of Garland's debut and precedes the American issue — the census claim is confirmed, but its silence on format is the real trap. Riverhead Books, New York, published the first American edition on 10 February 1997 as a hardback: quarter-bound black cloth over purple paper boards, title stamped in mauve foil to the spine, a mosquito intaglio blind-stamped to the front panel, black endpapers, in the pictorial jacket designed by Marc J. Cohen (silver circular device, yellow and red lettering to the black spine), with a full number line to 1 on first printings, 371 pp. Both are collected — the UK wrappered first for precedence, the Riverhead first as the earliest hardback appearance — but the UK precedes.