Is My A Perfect Spy a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The copyright page of the first impression reads "First printed 1986"
• Hodder used impression wording rather than a number line at this date, so later states self-declare: copies adding "Second impression", "Third impression", "Fourth impression" and so on are not firsts, and are routinely offered as "first edition, later impression" — read the copyright page rather than trusting the 1986 date alone
• Octavo, 463 pages, bound in blue cloth over boards lettered in gilt on the spine, with red endpapers
• The dust jacket is typographic and is credited to Howard J. Shaw; a priced jacket with the price present at the front flap is expected on an unclipped first
• Trap: Hodder issued its own later hardback reprints (a 2001 Hodder hardback circulates and is often offered signed) — a first impression of a later edition is not the true first

How Hodder & Stoughton marked a first edition

• Modern era (number line): later Hodder/Sceptre titles carry a printer's-key number line (lowest digit = printing; '1' present = first); number lines are a general post-~1970 trade practice — the exact year Hodder adopted…
• First printing = era-appropriate statement present AND no later-impression/printing notation; for pre-1940s books rely on points/bibliography, not the copyright page

Full Hodder & Stoughton 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. Read the number line — the lowest number is the printing. A line including 1 is a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2). Paste it into the decoder.
4. Verify this is the American 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?

The census claim holds. The Hodder & Stoughton (London) 1986 edition is the true first and precedes the Alfred A. Knopf (New York) 1986 American edition. Both editions are collected: the Hodder as the true first, the Knopf as the American first. The Knopf is separately identifiable because Knopf has consistently stated "First Edition" on the copyright page since the mid-1930s. Hodder additionally issued a signed limited edition of 250 numbered copies in 1986, bound in cloth and issued without a dust jacket — a distinct issue collected alongside the trade first rather than a substitute for it.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

UK book club copies (Book Club Associates and similar) and US Book-of-the-Month Club copies circulate. Standard tells apply: a blind stamp (small impressed dot, circle, or square) on the rear board, absence of a price at the jacket flap on an unclipped jacket, thinner bulk and cheaper paper stock, and no Hodder impression line matching the trade issue.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of A Perfect Spy a first edition?

A first edition of A Perfect Spy by John le Carré (Hodder & Stoughton) is identified by: The copyright page of the first impression reads "First printed 1986".

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

Check the copyright page. A number line whose lowest number is 1 marks a first printing (Random House ends at 2). The census claim holds.

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

UK book club copies (Book Club Associates and similar) and US Book-of-the-Month Club copies circulate. Standard tells apply: a blind stamp (small impressed dot, circle, or square) on the rear board, absence of a price at the jacket flap on an unclipped jacket, thinner bulk and cheaper paper stock, and no Hodder impression line matching the trade issue.

I have a first edition of A Perfect Spy — 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.