modern first edition books from Firsts in Print

modern first edition books from Firsts in Print

The Man Booker Prize

All of the books on these pages are first editions and first printings

2008 Man Booker Prize - Shortlist announced  - books in bold type.



The longlist for the Man Booker Prize for Fiction 2008 is as follows:

Aravind Adiga 'The White Tiger'
Gaynor Arnold 'Girl in a Blue Dress'
Sebastian Barry 'The Secret Scripture'
John Berger 'From A to X'
Michelle de Kretser 'The Lost Dog'
Amitav Ghosh 'Sea of Poppies
Linda Grant 'The Clothes on their backs'
Mohammed Hanif 'A Case of Exploding Mangoes'
Philip Hensher 'The Northern Clemency'
Joseph O'Neill 'Netherland'
Salman Rushdie 'The Enchantress of Florence'
Tom Rob Smith 'Child 44'
Steve Toltz 'A Fraction of the whole'


Please use the search facilty for availability of titles or scroll down and click on the link at the bottom of this page. More longlisted titles will be added as they become available. The books shown below are from previous Booker years.

The shortlist will be announced on 9th September 2008
Winner announced 14th October 2008

The Man Booker Prize, formerly known as just the Booker Prize, is recognised as the most prestigious literary award in the UK.

Established in 1969, it provides readers with the opportunity to review the year's best fiction. Often highly controversial, the prize attracts much media attention and high book sales. Many book collectors of modern fiction try to build a complete set of all shortlisted and winning titles.

A longlist is announced in Mid August followed by the shortlist in September and the final award in late October. The prize is given to the best novel in the English Language written by a Commonwealth or Irish citizen and published in the UK.
During its 35 years the prize has been won by some of the most famous contemporary writers such as Salman Rushdie, J M Coetzee, Peter Carey, Kazuo Ishiguro, Graham Swift, Pat Barker, A S Byatt, Michael Ondaatje, Iris Murdoch, VS Naipaul and Margaret Atwood. Only J M Coetzee and Peter Carey have won it twice. The winner in 2003 was D B C Pierre for 'Vernon God Little'.

Firsts in Print offers a wide range of Booker titles and would be pleased to help you fill the gaps in your collection.

Click here for 2005 longlisted books. Previous years' Booker Prize books are available by clicking here.



The Secret Scripture
by Sebastian Barry


Published: Faber, 2008

SIGNED by the author. Fine in fine dustwrapper. Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize (and narrowly missed winning it) and winner of the overall Costa Award. Now a scarce book as a signed first printing which this is.

Price: £ 65.00

The Secret Scripture


The Secret Scripture
by Sebastian Barry


Published: Faber, 2008

Fine in fine dustwrapper. Winner of the Costa Prize and shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.

Price: £ 40.00

The Secret Scripture


Sea of Poppies
by Amitav Ghosh


Published: John Murray, 2008

Fine in fine dustwrapper. New novel from the author of 'The Glass Palace' set against the history of the Opium Wars. The first of a projected trilogy Now reprinted. These are true firsts. Extremely well reviewed. Shortlisted for this year's Booker prize.

Price: £ 35.00

Sea of Poppies


Sea of Poppies
by Amitar Ghosh


Published: John Murray, 2008

Signed and dated by the author. Fine in fine dustwrapper. Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.

Price: £ 65.00

Sea of Poppies


The Clothes on Their Backs
by Linda Grant


Published: Virago, 2008

SIGNED and Dated. Fine in fine dustwrapper. Shortlisted for the Booker Prioze and one of the most elusive as a hardback edition was reportedely in a small print run of 1600 copies. Therefore, this will always be one of the most sought after shortlisted titles.

Price: £ 135.00

The Clothes on Their Backs


The Clothes on Their Backs
by Linda Grant


Published: Virago, 2008

SIGNED, Dated December 14 2008 and lined with the first line of the book by the author. Fine in fine dustwrapper. By far the most elusive of all the 2008 shortlisted Man Booker titles as it was also published as a simultaneous paperbackso it is ultra scarce in this first print hardback form. Extremely well reviewed.

Price: £ 165.00

The Clothes on Their Backs


The Clothes on their Backs
by Linda Grant


Published: Virago, 2008

Signed by the author. Fine in fine dustwrapper. The scarcest of the Man Booker shortlisted titles for 2008. Only 1600 reportedly produced as hardback first printings - which this is. A magnificant book. Also winner of the South Bank Show Literary award.

Price: £ 100.00

The Clothes on their Backs


The Northern Clemency
by Philip Hensher


Published: 4th Estate, 2008

Signed by the author. Fine in fine dustwrapper. A huge novel from a talented author - spanning two decades from 1974-1994, the novel is about the lives of two families in sheffield. Well reviewed. Shortlisted listed for the Booker prize. Now quite scarce as a signed first.

Price: £ 45.00

The Northern Clemency


A Fraction of the Whole
by Steve Toltz


Published: Hamish Hamilton, 2008

Fine in fine dustwrapper. A son recollects the fantastical events that led to his father's last days. A comic debut novel. Shortlisted for this year's Booker prize.

Price: £ 30.00

A Fraction of the Whole

Peter Elliston, Firsts in Print, 31 Cashford Gate, Taunton, Somerset UK TA2 8QA
peter@firsts-in-print.co.uk  |  phone (+44) (0)1823 256656