Is My A Clubbable Woman a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Collins Crime Club firsts of this period carry no first-printing statement, so the identification is negative: the copyright page shows the 1970 date and nothing indicating a later impression
• ILAB's publisher guide records Collins (U.K.) as "no statement on the first edition; presumably subsequent printings would be noted"; other guides describe a "First published 1970" line with no additional printings listed — the guides differ on wording but agree on the operative test, which is the absence of any later-impression note
• The binding is the publisher's red boards with gilt titling to the spine
• The jacket should be unclipped with the publisher's price present at the front flap; because the book appeared shortly before UK decimalisation, dealer copies record a dual-currency price at the flap (pre-decimal shillings alongside the decimal equivalent), and a price-clipped flap destroys this point
• Publisher's review copies with a review slip laid in are recorded by more than one ABA/ILAB dealer
• No first-state text error is documented for this title

How Collins Crime Club marked a first edition

• Collins (UK) generally did NOT use 'First Edition' statements or number lines in the classic era; firsts are identified by the absence of later-printing/reprint notices on the copyright/verso page combined with a publica…
• For collected authors (Agatha Christie etc.), identification is point-driven: jacket price, rear-panel advertisements, and the famous Crime Club 'gunman' device on the jacket. 'A Crime Club Sixpenny' lettered in the gunm…

Full Collins Crime Club first-edition guide →

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Confirm the first-edition statement — look for “First Edition,” “First Printing,” or the publisher’s equivalent wording.
3. Check for a number line or dated printing — the lowest number present is the printing; a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the tell.
4. Verify this is the UK true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
5. Rule out a book-club edition — a blind-stamp on the rear board or a jacket with no printed price marks a book-club copy.
6. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

The dust jacket

For a collectible first edition the dust jacket matters as much as the book. Confirm the jacket is present and unclipped — the printed price should still be at the corner of the flap (a clipped corner or a price-less flap can indicate a book-club issue). First-state jackets can differ from later ones in the cover art, blurbs, or review quotations; where a specific first-state jacket point is known for this title it is noted above.

Binding & format

Where multiple bindings exist, the hardcover trade issue is usually (but not always) the precedence copy — confirm against the points above. Later printings often show cheaper cloth, thinner boards, or simplified spine stamping. A simultaneous signed or limited issue, when one exists, is a distinct state from the trade first.

Is this the true first?

UK Collins Crime Club, London, 1970 is the true first — the census claim is confirmed. It is Hill's first book and the first Dalziel & Pascoe novel. The first American edition did not follow until fourteen years later: Foul Play Press / The Countryman Press, Woodstock, Vermont, published 28 September 1984, in dark grey cloth with gilt-stamped spine titling, 256pp. That US edition is collected in its own right as the first American edition but is not the true first, and it should not be confused with one.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

"Crime Club" on the spine is not a book-club tell — Collins Crime Club was a William Collins hardcover imprint (1930–1994), not a subscription club; readers joined only a mailing list. No book-club issue of the 1970 first is documented. Later-issue traps: the Fontana/Collins paperback (1972) and the 1984 Foul Play Press US edition are reprints / "first thus", not firsts.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of A Clubbable Woman a first edition?

A first edition of A Clubbable Woman by Reginald Hill (Collins Crime Club) is identified by: Collins Crime Club firsts of this period carry no first-printing statement, so the identification is negative: the copyright page shows the 1970 date and nothing indicating a later impression.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A stated first edition, a number line ending in 1, or a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the key. UK Collins Crime Club, London, 1970 is the true first — the census claim is confirmed.

Is the book-club edition the same as the first?

"Crime Club" on the spine is not a book-club tell — Collins Crime Club was a William Collins hardcover imprint (1930–1994), not a subscription club; readers joined only a mailing list. No book-club issue of the 1970 first is documented. Later-issue traps: the Fontana/Collins paperback (1972) and the 1984 Foul Play Press US edition are reprints / "first thus", not firsts.

I have a first edition of A Clubbable Woman — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap — an unclipped, priced jacket matters. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and use the free First Edition Checker to decode the printing. To sell, the author’s collecting guide covers the market. And if you are clearing books in the Albuquerque area, the New Mexico Literacy Project offers free pickup, any condition, and makes sure collectible copies are identified rather than discarded.

Glossary

First edition

Every copy printed from the first setting of type. Collectors usually want the first edition, first printing (the true first).

First printing / impression

A single press run from that setting. The first printing is the earliest and most desirable; later printings are still the first edition but not the true first.

Number line (printer's key)

A row of numbers on the copyright page (e.g. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1). The lowest number present is the printing — a line including 1 marks a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2).

Points of issue

Specific physical details — a stated edition, a number line, a typo, a jacket state — that identify the true first printing.

Book-club edition (BCE)

A reprint made for a book club. Tells include a blind-stamped dot or square on the rear board and a dust jacket with no printed price. Not the true first.

First thus

The first appearance of a particular version (first paperback, first illustrated, first U.S. printing) — a first of that kind, not the first edition of the work.