Is My Copy of After Dark, My Sweet a First Edition?

The points of issue

• A paperback original, first published as Popular Library #716 in December 1955; the catalogue number appears on the front cover, and the book is a 16mo mass-market paperback collected only in its original wrappers
• Cover art is reported as by Ray Johnson
• Because the book was never issued in a contemporaneous hardcover, the 1955 Popular Library wraps are the first appearance in book form and the only first edition — there is no hardcover state to hunt, and any hardcover of this title is a later reissue
• Identification therefore rests on the imprint and number: Popular Library 716, 1955, in wraps, with no later-printing statement on the copyright page; a different Popular Library number or a stated later printing rules the copy out
• Condition, not points, is the practical constraint on this title: cover rubbing, spine creasing, and grease-pencil pricing to the front cover are endemic

How Popular Library marked a first edition

• Sequential catalog number on the spine/cover identifies the title; the number is not a printing count.
• First printing: the copyright page lacks a later-printing statement. Later Popular Library printings add a printing line, and a price bump on the same catalog number signals a reprint.

Full Popular Library 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 US 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 US Popular Library paperback original of 1955 is the true first, and no UK or foreign-language edition precedes or is simultaneous with it. There is no rival edition to name — everything else is downstream. Later UK and US reissues (including the Orion Crime Masterworks and Mulholland Classic editions) are reprints, "first thus" at best; no hardcover appeared until much later, but the sources consulted do not fix a date for a first hardcover appearance.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition exists — the title is a mass-market paperback original. The reprint tells are the successor imprints rather than club markings: any copy bearing an imprint other than Popular Library, carrying an ISBN, or showing a number line is a later reissue, since none of those features belong to a 1955 Popular Library. Later Popular Library printings of #716 would be stated on the copyright page.P-040607

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of After Dark, My Sweet a first edition?

A first edition of After Dark, My Sweet by Jim Thompson (Popular Library) is identified by: A paperback original, first published as Popular Library #716 in December 1955; the catalogue number appears on the front cover, and the book is a 16mo mass-market paperback collected only in its original wrappers.

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. The US Popular Library paperback original of 1955 is the true first, and no UK or foreign-language edition precedes or is simultaneous with it.

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

No book-club edition exists — the title is a mass-market paperback original. The reprint tells are the successor imprints rather than club markings: any copy bearing an imprint other than Popular Library, carrying an ISBN, or showing a number line is a later reissue, since none of those features belong to a 1955 Popular Library. Later Popular Library printings of #716 would be stated on the copyright page.

I have a first edition of After Dark, My Sweet — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and decode the printing with the free First Edition Checker. Clearing out books? I take them as a free donation and make sure collectible copies are identified, not discarded: free pickup in the Albuquerque metro (scheduled by route), the 24/7 drop box at 5445 Edith Blvd NE, or donor-paid mail-in from anywhere in the US. Questions? Call or text 505-250-3804.

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.