‘The English Assassin’

The English Assassin

London:  Allison & Busby, 1972 (September) hardcover;
sub-titled “A Romance of Entropy” on title page;
original price:  £2·50;
254 pages;
I.S.B.N.:  85031-043-1;
cover artist:  Richard Glyn Jones (also interior);
title-page drawing by Mal Dean.

Jerry Cornelius — the ambiguous, amoral, androgynous English Assassin —

The English Assassin is the third volume of the Cornelius tetralogy. It was collected — partially revised (purportedly) — in The Cornelius Chronicles (1977) with The Final Programme, A Cure For Cancer and The Condition Of Muzak, then fully revised in 1979. In this form it was collected in The Cornelius Chronicles Book Two (1988) with The Condition Of Muzak only, and later (with all three other titles) in The Cornelius Quartet (1993).

(Preceded by A Cure For Cancer)

First edition, reprinted 1976 (see below).

First paperback edition: London: Quartet mass-sized paperback, 1973 (August);
original price:  40p;
230 pages;
I.S.B.N.:  0-704-31039-2;
cover artist:  Peter Till;
illustrated by Richard Glyn Jones;
no title-page drawing.

Quartet paperback, 1975 (March 25th);
original price:  50p;
230 pages;
I.S.B.N.:  0-704-31256-5 (0-704-31 only, on copyright page);
I.S.B.N.:  0-704-31039-2;
cover artist:  Patrick Woodroffe.

London:  Allison & Busby reprinted hardcover, 1976 (possibly Feb. ’77);
original price:  £4·50;
254 pages;
I.S.B.N.:  0-85031-043-1 (85031-043-1 on copyright page);
cover artist:  Richard Glyn Jones (also interior);
title-page drawing by Mal Dean.

First revised edition:  Glasgow: Fontana paperback, 1979 (September);
original price:  £1·00 (later overprinted £1·50);
253 pages;
I.S.B.N.:  0-00-615342-9;
cover artist:  Bill Sanderson;
illustrated by Richard Glyn Jones;
title-page drawing by Mal Dean.

First American edition:  New York: Harper & Row hardcover, 1974 (May 8th);
original price:  $6·95;
254 pages;
I.S.B.N.:  0-06-013003-3;
cover artist:  Richard Glyn Jones (also interior);
title-page drawing by Mal Dean.

London: Titan trade-paperback,
2016 (April 19th);
revised text;
edited by John Davey;
original price:  $9·95;
347 pages;
I.S.B.N.:  9871783291816;
cover artist:  Julia Lloyd;
interior artists:  Mal Dean, Harry Douthwaite & Jill Riches;
“Original artwork, by Richard Glyn Jones, withdrawn by artist”.

N.B.: All English-language editions contain the following note: “Many of the newspaper quotations used here might cause further distress to parents and relatives of the deceased if they read them. Therefore I have in some cases changed the names. No other part of the quotation has been altered.”

(Followed by The Condition Of Muzak)

(Click here for Foreign Editions)

The English Assassin is also available as an e-book: 9871783291809.