The original Asterix books (Gaul through Belgium, numbers 1 through 24 in these Annotations) were published by Hodder Dargaud. Thereafter Hodder Children's books published the "more recent" (Great Divide through All at Sea plus some spinoffs, numbers 25 through 30 in these Annotations) new releases. The Hodder Dargaud and Hodder Children's Books issues had the book number printed on the top left hand side of the cover page.

There was one problem with the numbering of books in the Hodder Dargaud editions in English. They were numbered based on the order in which they were translated into English and not on the order in which they were published in the original French. Thus, Asterix in Britain which was the 8^th book in French was the 3^rd to be translated into English because the publishers of the English translations felt that Asterix in Britain, with its references to things British, was more likely to be relevant and sell more copies than Asterix and the Banquet (5^th in French; 23^rd in Hodder Dargaud English) with its arcane references to the Tour de France.

In the 1990's older Asterix books (1 through 24) were out of print because of legal wranglings. After a lengthy legal battle, Orion won and the older Asterix books were back on the shelves, albeit in "re-editions". In the Orion editions the covers are redesigned. Inside the books, the Orion editions have all new, and in this author's opinion, better coloring than some of the old Hodder editions. The lettering has also been redone. In the Orion editions the books are numbered based on the order in which they were published in the original French. The Orion editions have the (very small) number only on the spine of the book (not on the cover anymore).

The Annotations have always listed the books in the order in which they were published in French.